Pretty Little Slayers: A Fandom Catastrophe
by spobyaddict
Summary: When worlds collide, chaos ensues. A crossover mainly between PLL and Buffy, but also Switched at Birth, Angel, Bates Motel, OUaT, SNL, Suite Life, Grey's, Scandal, Merlin, Sherlock, AHS, Scream, Girl Most Likely, New Girl, BBT, Castle, SourceFed, TVD, Pushing Daisies, Office, Archer, 24, and others. *You do not need knowledge on any of these aside from basic PLL and Buffy.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Once upon a time, about two weeks ago, there was a cruise ship, the S.S. Tipton, setting sail for Rosewood, California. It was a popular tourist destination, but this particular ship was different. There were witches, demons, and anything else one could think of. Whatever was going to happen was going to be epic.

**Chaper 1: Lonely Hearts**

"This sucks," Spencer groaned.

"What's wrong?" Toby asked, obviously concerned.

"Buffy cancelled on me," she sighed, running a hand through her long, brown tresses.

"For dinner?"

"Yeah, 'something came up', I guess."

"It probably had fangs," Toby smirked.

"Hey," Spencer giggled, slapping him playfully. "Just because we're slayers doesn't mean that everything we do revolves around-"

"...It kinda does, Spence."

"I know," she admitted softly, keeping her eyes down. "Sometimes, I just like to wonder about what life would be like if I wasn't… If I wasn't me."

"I know," Toby replied, kissing the top of her head softly. "But you are you. And I wouldn't have it any other way," he smiled.

* * *

"Come on, Bay and Toby! We have to go! Can one of you get Daphne and tell her she needs to come too?" John Kennish shouted to his three children. Though he and his wife, Kathryn, had just recently discovered that Bay wasn't biologically theirs, and had been switched with Daphne at the hospital shortly after birth, he still regarded her as his own. He had also opened up his unused guest house to Daphne's family: her mother, Regina (Bay's biological mother), and her mother, Adrianna, in order for them all to get to know each other. Aside from the Kennishes' parenting differences from Regina, there was really only one barrier- Daphne was deaf.

It had been a whole new world- learning how to sign, having to see her and her friend, Emmett, get made fun of by the other kids in town… It was challenging, but, in everyone's eyes, it was worth it.

"Bay and I are going to Aria's after we drop Daphne off at Emily's, can't go to Aunt Margaret's tonight!" Toby called, all three rushing past John before they could be dragged back.

And, just like that, they were gone.

* * *

Be safe," Bay said while signing, which she had become better at as the days passed. "Text me or Toby when you want to be picked up, or just come to Aria's. There'll be a party in a few hours, anyway. Maybe Emily will want to make an appearance!"

"Doubt it," Daphne replied. "However, I think Maya might be coming in a few, and if I end up third-wheeling I'll definitely make an appearance," she smiled. "See you later!"

"Why would she doubt it?" Toby inquired. "Weren't Emily and Aria like best friends with those three other girls?"

"Yeah, until Alison died," Bay replied.

"But wouldn't that bring a group like that closer together?"

"Maybe, until you realize that the one who left was the center. You were all friends because of her. It's not that they were all going to be friends anyway. I guess they realized that."

"Maybe. So are you and Aria going to be painting today?"

"Probably. Emmett said he might drop by for the party later, which we have to clean up for," she said.

"Great," Toby groaned as they pulled into the Montgomerys' driveway.

* * *

"A party?" the hooded figure asked, eyeing his teammate inquisitively.

"A big one, supposedly. At Aria's in about an hour. Don't make a scene there, just get what we need and get out."

"And what is it exactly that we need?"

"Evidence." And, even from under the hood, everyone in the room could tell that nothing but pure evil was radiating from it.

* * *

"Hey guys! Come on in!" Aria exclaimed as she waved in the latest arrivals to her party. Her parents were concerned that her recent split with the girls was having a negative impact on her social life, and often asked her if she wanted to have anyone over, even for extended periods of time. So, to show them that she was fine, she threw a party. Though, once the first guest was in the door, she instantly regretted it.

The truth was, Aria was having a hard time. After Alison's death, nothing had been the same. She had lost those she had held dearest, even though they were still right in front of her. Hanna had completely transformed, becoming the beauty queen she had always wanted to be. Even Emily and Spencer had branched out, Emily throwing herself into swimming, befriending the new girl, Maya. Willow, suddenly having much more time for her friend, Alexis, along with her grades. Hell, she hadn't even heard from Fred for almost six months. And then Spencer and Buffy… Being Spencer and Buffy. They had always been a bit odd, suddenly having family emergencies and other things to deal with, but it was always understood to never bring it up. Aria still missed the feeling she got whenever they acted as Team Sparia. She missed a lot of things.

* * *

Buffy sighed, brushing the last of some vampire's remains off of her. The dust got old. In fact, all of this got old.

Giles told her not to let it bother her. Someone had to do it, after all. She was a strong, independent girl, so why not it be her?

Well, Buffy could name about ten thousand reasons why it shouldn't be her. Why it shouldn't be anyone at all. Couldn't people protect themselves? They've all seen the movies, they know you have to stake a vampire to kill it. She was sure they'd do just fine.

But no, two girls born into every generation had this cross to bear (pun somewhat intended).

Giles told her she should be grateful. At least she had Spencer. They didn't have to face this alone. That's more than most of the previous slayers could have ever asked for. But…she was seventeen. Spencer was too. That's too young to die.

And Giles expects that not to bother her?

It always comes back to what Giles tells her. What Giles expects of her. Giles's expectations were too much. She couldn't reach them.

And she knew Giles was just there to give her guidance and advice and try to keep her, well, _alive._ And there were no words in the world to express how much she appreciated it. But she was just a kid. And she was scared.

She pushed the thoughts out of her head as she spotted a couple a shady looking guys walking down the street she occupied. She had a pretty good sense of vampires (slayer, duh) and these two had to be some.

"Hi, boys!" She said cheerily as touched the stake in her pocket and closed between her and them.

* * *

"All right, that makes sense," Willow said, looking triumphantly at her carefully aligned notes.

"You done?" her companion asked, looking up from her own notebook.

"Yep," Willow chirped, smiling. "How about you?"

"Almost there," the other girl replied. "This is so time consuming."

"Hang in there, Alexis," Willow said. She leaned her head over and examined Alexis's notepage. "Oh, the rest of notes are pretty simple. You can just skim through it and you'll have probably all that you need, because most of it seems pretty unimportant and meaningless, and I doubt we really need to know it, it doesn't seem like something we'd need to know… Unless...no, that's probably silly, we wouldn't need to know _that_-"

"Whoa, Willow, slow down," Alexis said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Willow apologized sheepishly. "I was rambling."

"I noticed," Alexis said. "No problem."

Alexis looked back down at her work, wrote a few more things, then sighed, relieved. "Finally."

Willow smiled at her fellow ginger.

"So," Alexis began, "did you hear about Aria's party?"

"Yeah," Willow said. "Don't know how I possibly could've missed it."

"True," Alexis said. "Would you have wanted to go?"

"Oh no," Willow said immediately. "Parties...parties aren't my thing. Parties and me equals spaz."

Alexis chuckled, then fixed her gaze on Willow intently. "Alison really hit you all hard, didn't she?"

"Yeah," Willow said after a moment's hesitation. "She did."

* * *

"Spencer?! What are you doing here?" Aria exclaimed, resisting the urge to throw her arms around the brunette in front of her.

"Well, I heard there was a party! Toby was busy, but he says hello."

"That's fine," Aria smiled. "Come in! There's a place for you to hang up your coat and purse, well, where it always was." She continued to smile, but this one was sadder.

"I'll hang on to them, actually. Thanks though," Spencer smiled.

"Okay. Enjoy the party!"

Heading towards the bathroom, trying to remain unseen, Spencer quickly unzipped her purse and grabbed a stake from inside. Someone- something- was here for more than a few drinks.

Quickly zeroing in on a group of shaded figures in the corner, she made her way over, staying hidden as best she could within the shadows and sweaty bodies. Her heart racing, she was surprised a slaying still had this effect on her. Her palms would get sweaty, her breathing would quicken, her heart would palpitate. And, talking to Buffy, she knew it wasn't just her. Everyone, she realized, was completely wrong. It wasn't the thrill of the kill, but the terror.

Once the job was done, Spencer brushed herself off and began to head back into the fray, but she was exhausted. Attempting to make her way out before getting caught, she was, like always, busted. Feeling a hand wrap around her wrist, she quickly turned around, prepared to fight.

"You leaving already?" Aria inquired, not noticing Spencer's huge sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I'm tired," she lied, faking a yawn as best she could.

"Really? It's only nine, Spence! What happened?"

"Not sure… But I'm ready to hit the bucket and I still have to study for that huge calculus test tomorrow!"

"Spence, I'm sure you'll be fine. It's you and school. Like peanut butter and jelly," Aria laughed. "Stay for just a little bit, won't you?" The small girl pleaded, her eyes almost doubling in size. Just then, Spencer's phone went off.

_Can we talk? -Buffy_

"I totally would, but my dad wants me home ASAP. Something's up with Melissa," Spencer groaned, rolling her eyes at how believable her story was.

"Again?"

"Always," the taller girl smirked, awkwardly hugging her companion. Though it wasn't true in this situation, it somehow still was. "See you around, short stuff."

* * *

Fred looked at her watch for about the hundredth time in the past five minutes. As usual, she had nothing to do. I mean, who really wants to hang out with the shy Texan with a bad habit of writing on the walls? Not many people's idea of good friend material.

Her parents weren't home, either, so she was completely on her own. Not an unusual occurrence, but it never really became a less depressing one. Another dinner of tacos in front of some TV show that she never especially paid any attention too. Too lost in her own thoughts, that, as a general rule, ran at a mile a minute.

She supposed she could've gone to Aria's party. It's not like she was explicitly told not to or anything. But she knew, in the end, it wasn't a very good idea. Aria probably wouldn't want to see her, and if any of the other girls were there, she wasn't sure how much she could take.

Maybe she shouldn't have broken complete contact with most of them (except Willow) the way she had. She had, admittedly, acted in the heat of the moment. She'd made a stupid decision and went with it. But how long would any of them really stuck around? God only knows why Alison seemed so taken with her. The other girls, however...not so much. They thought she was pretty weird, just like most of the high school population. Only Willow had seemed completely accepting of her...erhm, zany nature. So she's the only one Fred didn't completely cut off from.

Sighing, Fred once again looked at her watch. Two minutes had passed. Fred groaned. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Hey, Daphne!" Emily smiled. "Maya will be here soon, is that okay?"

"Expected," Daphne giggled.

"So is anything new with Emmett?" Though Emily didn't know Daphne's friends well, she knew they were good people and liked them upon first meeting them.

"Not really. He has a crush on a new girl, but he won't tell me who!" Daphne groaned frustratedly, signing far too fast for Emily's beginner skills.

"But, other than that, him and Melody and Cameron are okay?"

"Yep! Just that stupid girl!"

"I'm sorry, but I find it kind of funny," Emily laughed. "Hey, do you want to shoot some hoops until Maya gets here?"

The girls hadn't been outside for more than 20 minutes when Maya's bike skidded to a halt a few feet away from them.

"Hey!" Both girls greeted.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop taking your corners on one wheel?" Emily joked, nudging Maya in the side.

"Want to shoot some hoops?" Daphne asked.

"I'm much more of a scorekeeper slash commentator, you know that," Maya smiled.

"Fair enough!" Daphne smiled, quickly resuming play with Emily.

"And Fields takes the ball down the court, she shoots, she misses! Back to Vasquez for a point!"

"It's two points in basketball, sometimes three, if we're being official," Emily smiled.

"How am I to know that? I never played sports or hung around with jocks like you guys until recently," Maya laughed, smiling at the girl in front of her.

"Hey, I hate to bail, but I think I'm going to head to Aria's party. Emmett might be there, and I'm going to force this out of him if it kills me!"

"Sounds good! I'll see you tomorrow!" Emily yelled as Daphne ran to Aria's, not knowing that she felt like an obvious outsider. Daphne had always told Emily how the deaf are more perceptive to emotions and body language, but she had never really thought about it. About how much more Maya looked at her, and how differently she did so. But Daphne could see it all, and it hurt.

"Can we go inside now?" Maya whined playfully. "As much as I love watching you kick ass out here, it's like 80 degrees."

"Sure," Emily smiled, giving her girlfriend a quick kiss before they were back under her mother's supervision.

* * *

"Norman?"

Norman Bates didn't fail to notice the uncertain tone in his mother's voice as she called for him. Acting quickly (his mother had never been the most patient of people), Norman hurried out of his room and quickly descended the stairs into his front hallway. His mother stood at the door. From over her shoulder, he could see a few people he recognized.

"Norman," Norma said, with a tight smile that obviously meant she was unhappy, "there are some girls here to see you."

Norman walked past his mother, and the familiar faces were now in full view. Bradley Martin, Hanna Marin, Cordelia Chase, Harmony Kendall, Hayden McClaine, and Madison Montgomery stood out on his front porch.

"Hey, Norman," Hanna said with a smile.

"Hi, Bradley," Norman replied.

"So, we were wondering if you'd want to come study with us at the library," Hanna said swiftly. "You're really smart, I'm sure you could help us out a lot."

Norman opened his mouth to reply in the affirmative, but Norma quickly cut in.

"I don't think that's a good idea tonight. Maybe some other time."

"Mother," Norman interjected.

"Hey, that's fine," Bradley said quickly. "No problem. Another time."

"All right," Norma said hurriedly. "Thanks for stopping by."

"See you at school, Norman," Hanna said with a smile, then turning and walking off the porch, followed by the other girls.

Norman turned to his mother.

"You didn't even let me respond, mother," he said.

"What's the point, Norman? You would've said 'yes', and then I would've been the bad guy," Norma said.

"I could've gone," Norman said, irritated.

"I said 'no'. You don't even know those girls."

"No, you don't know them."

"They didn't look like the kind of people I want you being around, Norman."

"How would you know what they're like?"

"Oh, enough Norman. I said 'no', so that means no. End of discussion."

With that, Norma turned her back on her son and walked into the kitchen, leaving Norman to go storm angrily into his room.

It had been a rough night for everyone.


	2. What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?

**A/N: Hey, did you know that there's a lovely ginger next to me? BECAUSE THERE IS! In all seriousness, we're sorry this took so long. However, we are two teenagers that suffer from chronic procrastination. PROCRASTINATION STATION IS THE PLACE TO BE. **

**Twerking.**

**Chapter Two: What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?**

"Do you know something?" Buffy asked, flopping down on Spencer's bed.

"I know lots of things," the taller of the two smirked, settling herself next to her friend. "For instance, though Toby may tell you otherwise, I know how to make flan. I can tell you how to-"

"Shut up!" Buffy laughed, groaning a little as well, throwing her hands up. "I was going to say that I hate living in a stupid vacation destination town."

"Well, the cruise ships land here. Most of the actual passengers go elsewhere."

"This ship is different. I can feel it!" Buffy retorted, propping herself up on her side.

"Just like Hanna could _feel_ that Aria should go out with Noel Kahn?"

"Wait, what?"

"Long story. Just Hanna being… Hanna." Spencer said, smiling a bittersweet smile.

"We have all had our moments, okay? But the ship docked yesterday. And the town feels… Different. Haunted, almost."

"So what's so different?"

"First of all, this ship was PACKED. And I don't mean like "Wow, that's a lot of people". I'm used to that. I don't see how all those people fit into one planet! How the hell are they on a ship?"

"Well, it's June. Kids are starting to get out of school. This is a popular time for tourists to be here- we've seen packed ships before."

"We've seen packed ships. This one was PACKED." Buffy's persistence intrigued her friend. Sighing, Spencer carried on with their conversation, a little more intently.

"Well, what does everyone else think?"

"I haven't told anyone else."

"Well aren't I special?" Spencer smirked.

"Spence, I'm not getting. I get a bad vibe from this ship, okay? And I need to trust my instincts on this."

"Well, let's call Emily and get her opinion, okay? When we were close she always knew how to talk like Ben Franklin. We'll go from there," Spencer said, reaching for her phone and dialing Emily's number.

"Emily? I know it's weird that I'm calling you this late, or calling at all, but we have a- Emily?" Suddenly, Spencer shot up, pacing around the room frantically. Though she hadn't spoken much to Hanna, Emily, Willow, Fred, or Aria since Alison's disappearance, the girls still had a very special place in her heart. "Emily, breathe. Calm down. I can't understand you when you're this upset." Though she had been avoiding the bed, Spencer hadn't been careful enough. Her forearm was suddenly encased by a hand, Buffy's eyes begging her for information.

_I don't know,_ Spencer mouthed to her equally distraught friend.

* * *

"Emily?" Daphne called, looking for her friend. Maya's bike wasn't in the driveway, which was new. "Emily, I'm in the kitchen! Can I have one of your mom's cookies? I'm just going to take one!" Searching the living room, Daphne still didn't see her friend. Venturing towards Emily's room, Daphne continued to shout. "Emily? Your mom let me in before she left, where are you?" Opening the door to her friend's room, she quickly dropped down next to the sobbing girl before her.

"Emily, what happened?"

* * *

Fred hugged her books close to herself as she walked down the street in the direction of library. She was off to return these and find a couple new ones, to keep her occupied for more nights of seclusion. She had her notebook with her to see if she could get some studying done, and then tell her parents she had met up with someone so they wouldn't worry about her hermit-ness so much. It was getting to be that these little trips and school were the only times she even left the house anymore. And with summer coming up, she wouldn't even have school to count on for much longer.

She couldn't have been more than a couple blocks away from the library when Miss Queen C herself came walking up beside her with a few members of her posse. Sighing, Fred avoided eye-contact, hoping maybe then Cordelia would leave her alone. Act like you know you're beneath her, and she won't feel the need to remind you.

"Oh, look who it is," Cordelia said smugly. Well, no such luck, then.

"Hi, Cordelia," Fred said meekly. Cordelia had never really cared for the small brunette, mostly because of her peculiarity. And partially the fact that there weren't many people on this planet that Cordelia _did _like. A dozen, at most.

"Where are you off to?" Cordelia asked boredly, more focused on the condition of her cuticles.

There was no use lying. She was almost there. Cordelia wasn't worth lying to, anyway. Everybody already thought Fred was a loser, there wasn't much else the other girl could do. So, Fred said quietly, without hesitation, "The library."

Cordelia chuckled. "The goody little two shoes off to the library."

Her cronies, Hayden and Harmony, snickered.

"God, what a loser," Cordelia continued, snatching a book from her grasp. Staring at it with a quirked eyebrow, she rolled her eyes. "_Concepts of Genetics. _No life either."

"Give it back, Cordelia," Fred sighed. Cordelia ignored her.

"What else you got?" Cordelia questioned. "_How to be Even More of a Nerd?_"

While Hayden and Harmony giggled, Fred chose not to dignify that with an answer. Instead, she repeated, "Give it back, Cordelia."

Huffing, Cordelia tossed the book back at her, Fred barely catching it without dropping the rest. "Whatever."

Fred thought that perhaps the girls would leave her alone now, but she was wrong. The three stayed right at her side. Maybe someone would see them with her and then it'd be all over the school that Queen C and her group was hanging out with the freak. Fred smirked to herself.

"What's so funny?" Cordelia snapped. Dang, you don't get much past her.

"Nothing, Cordelia," Fred said.

"God, you're weird," Cordelia said.

"Why are you still following me, then?" Fred asked. Cordelia opened her mouth to answer, then shut it just as quickly when she realized she _had _no answer. So, in retaliation, Cordelia grabbed Fred's notebook.

"Let's see what's in here," Cordelia said, flipping it open. Silently praying there wasn't anything too incriminating in there for Cordelia to taunt her about, she made a grab for it, but Cordelia moved it out of her reach. "Must be something _special _in here."

"Cordelia, give it back," Fred said for the third time, trying to snatch it again.

"What, writing about your crush in here?" Cordelia asked. "Let me guess: Wesley Wyndham-Pryce?"

Fred tried not to blush at how hard Cordelia had hit the nail right on the head. That was not important right now. She tried to grab it once more, but Cordelia saw it coming.

"Give it back!" Fred said with more force. Cordelia passed it to Hayden.

"You write _everything _down, don't you?" Hayden said, showing the pages she had open to Harmony, who laughed. Hayden tossed it back to Cordelia.

"Hey, I thought she said to give it back," a voice came from behind them suddenly. Fred, Cordelia, Harmony, and Hayden all whipped around and faced the speaker. An African American male, about 20 or so, met their sights. A black bandana was tied around his head and he was dressed in loose fitting, plain clothes. He looked at Cordelia expectantly.

Cordelia hesitated a moment before grumbling, "Fine." She tossed Fred's notebook back to her. "C'mon guys."

Cordelia, Harmony, and Hayden walked off.

"Thank you," Fred said, albeit a bit uncertainly.

"No problem," he said with a smile, holding out his hand. "Charles Gunn. Most people call me Gunn."

"Winifred Burkle," Fred said. "Most people call me Fred."

"Fred," Gunn said. Fred shook his hand.

* * *

"Two girls born into every generation are called as the Chosen Ones. They alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. They are the Slayers."

A low rumble that could only be assumed to be a chuckle sounded.

"Gotta hand it to you guys: your bedtime stories get better every night."

"I understand that you have heard this before."

A quirked eyebrow, a twist of the lips, a narrowing of the eyes met with this statement.

"Whatever gave you that impression?"

A slight pause.

"You know what you must do. How to make this right."

All pretense of a smile, gone, in an instant. A gruffer voice than before; angrier.

"Nothing can ever make this right."

"But this will help. Before something too tragic should hit Rosewood. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Another hesitation.

"No, we would not."

"They do not yet grasp the gravity of what is coming their way. And no one better to bring their attention to it. Isn't that right, Liam?"

* * *

"Hey, Will."

Xander Harris smiled brightly at his friend as she approached him.

"Hey, Xander," Willow said. The two of them, along with Alexis, had been hanging out together increasingly given the recent situation, and it was nice. Xander and Willow had been friends since kindergarten, but had grown apart when Alison had showed up. It was good to be acting like best friends again.

"I'm surprised you agreed to come and meet me," Xander said. "Figured you and Alexis would be studying for the exams."

"Xander, Alexis and I got enough exemptions to get out of anything of real effort," Willow said with a smile.

"Oh, wow, _exemptions,_" Xander said, sounding impressed. "I would've thought you'd still take the exams for fun."

"I'm not that much of a geek," Willow said. Xander gave her a pointed look. "Fine, I am. We all have our problems."

Xander laughed. "Well, that was not one of the problems I was lucky enough to have. I still have to fail every exam."

"You won't fail," Willow said. "I'll help you. It won't be that bad, I promise."

"Yeah," Xander said, but he was no longer looking at Willow. He was gazing above her head, brows furrowed in confusion.

"What?" Willow asked, turning and following his gaze. Not far from where they were standing, another young girl was pacing, her arms folded, muttering to herself angrily. Willow looked closer and recognized the girl as Maya St. Germain.

"Wonder what's the matter," Xander said.

"Do you think we should go ask?" Willow asked. She had a few classes with the girl and felt bad not seeing if she could help.

"I guess we could," Xander said doubtfully. Willow's mind was made up, though.

"C'mon."

The pair walked off in Maya's direction.

"Hi, Maya," Willow said as they came up to her. Maya looked at them in surprise, hurriedly wiping at her eyes. Willow frowned.

"Is everything okay?" Okay, probably a stupid question, but Willow could honestly say that she had never been known for her suave speaking skills. That was more of an Alexis thing.

"Oh, yeah, it's just…" Maya didn't finish.

"What is it, Maya?" Willow pressed on.

"I...you know the girl who lived in my house before me?"

Willow hesitated before saying, "Alison. Yeah."

"Yeah, her. Well….she's dead."

Willow recoiling backwards into Xander was highly involuntary.

* * *

"Emily, what's going on?" Daphne asked, concerned for her unconsolable friend. For the past five minutes, she had tried to get Emily to open up, but failed miserably. "Emily, please! Come on, I'm worried!" Sighing, she stood up from her position. "I'm going to go get another cookie. When I come back, I want answers."

"Daphne, wait," Emily said, her throat scratchy. "Alison… she's dead."

"What?"

"I was at Maya's house earlier and there were police everywhere… They found her body."

"Em, I'm so sorry! This must be awful."

"Honestly, I was expecting it. She's been missing for a year, and she had more enemies than friends," Emily sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "Maya got angry because I was so upset initially."

"Why? That's ridiculous!"

"She's always been very protective and jealous… She thinks that I still have feelings for Ali."

Daphne paused. "Is she wrong?"

"I… I don't know," Emily sighed. "I thought I was, but she was the first girl I ever loved. Feelings like that don't just go away because someone leaves."

"Emily, that's okay!" Daphne smiled softly. "You lost someone you loved! Maya needs to understand that Ali was special to you, but that you are interested in her now."

"I wish she would answer my calls and my texts so I could tell her that," Emily responded frustratedly. "I'm just going to give her space."

"Don't give her too much."

* * *

Buffy hated funerals. Everything about them made her almost physically nauseous. This one was no exception.

Everyone she passed cast her a sympathetic glance. 'Buffy and Alison were close before Alison disappeared'. 'I remember Buffy and Alison being very good friends'. 'That poor girl, it must be just eating her; they were close friends, I recall'. Willow, Spencer, Fred, Aria, Emily, and Hanna were probably receiving the same treatment. This was their life now. They were always going to be those girls who knew Alison.

And Buffy? Buffy didn't know how to feel. She'd be lying if she said that, in the back of her mind, she hadn't thought it would come to this. This was Rosewood. People don't just disappear and live to tell the tale. But she'd also be lying if she said a small part of her had been hoping it wasn't so. If anyone in this town could survive, it was Alison DiLaurentis.

"Buff?" Buffy turned around to see Spencer, arms open for a hug.

"Hey, Spence," Buffy replied, returning her friend's embrace.

"I know Ali could be awful, but I still don't want to believe she's gone," Spencer sighed.

"I know," Buffy responded.

Noticing Hanna and Willow across the room, Spencer quickly hugged Buffy goodbye before heading towards her other friends.

"Hey, Han."

"Spencer!" Hanna smiled, hugging her friend enthusiastically.

"Are you drunk? At our friend's funeral?" Spencer asked, somewhat appalled, but not too shocked.

"I might be a little tipsy," Hanna grinned. "Em has my flask now, though. She needed it more than I did."

"Seriously? Where is she? I need to take that away from her before she does something really dumb."

"She's sitting up front with Fred, Aria, and Buffy. Mrs. D wanted all of us to sit there. She thinks it's what Ali would've wanted." Willow said, jumping in.

"I think what Ali really would've wanted was a riot over who got to sit up front," Spencer remarked, chuckling to herself.

"True," Hanna laughed. "We should sit down, I think it's about to start."

As the services started, Spencer took her head from it's comfortable spot on Toby's shoulder and looked around. Alison's parents were a wreck. Hanna was tipsy and Emily was sneaking sips from the flask. Aria was crying into Emmett's shoulder. Fred was sitting as close to the pew as possible, trying to remain unnoticed. Buffy seemed highly uncomfortable, which was to be expected. Willow sat there, crying silently. Everyone else, however, seemed to be completely unphased, just sitting there somberly.

* * *

As the group was walking out of the church, a man in a suit approached them.

"Emily, Spencer, Buffy, Aria, Hanna, Willow, and Fred," the man said, eyeing each of them as he named them.

"Do we know you?" Spencer inquired.

"I'm Detective Wilden. I understand that you were all good friends with the victim?"

"Yeah, we were," Aria nodded.

"I'm gonna need to talk to each one of you," Wilden said, not noticing Fred and Willow's

horrified state.

"We talked to the police when Alison went missing," Buffy replied, sounding a bit

confused.

"And I intend to go over every one of your statements," he retorted. "Because this is no longer a missing person's investigation, it's a murder. And rest assured I will find out what happened that summer." And, with that, he walked away as all the girls' cell phones rang.

"I'm still here, bitches," Willow said, her hands shaking.

"And I know everything," Buffy added, before the group finished the text in unison:

"-A."


	3. Into the Woods

**A/N: WHHHAAAATTT? An update before 2015? I know! We've actually been somewhat productive! So far we have up to Chapter 6ish written, so I can promise updates on Wednesdays for at least two more weeks! It's a miracle, really. Another miracle? This chapter is over 3,300 words! If you think that's too much, I apologize in advance for chapter four!**

**Again, this FanFic contains many fandoms, several of which are brought to light in this chapter. If there's a character you don't know- DON'T WORRY. Just enjoy the weird.**

**Thank you all for your kind and confused reviews :D They really do matter! **

**Chapter Three: Into the Woods**

"What is this?" Willow shrieked, almost dropping her phone.

"What makes you think any of us know?" Buffy snapped, staring angrily at the newly-received text.

"Buffy, calm down, okay? It's not her fault," Aria said.

"Can you blame her, Aria? We don't know who this is!" Emily exclaimed.

"Yeah, or what they know!" Buffy added.

"Or if they even know anything!" Hanna said, just trying to diffuse the tension. "This is probably just some nutjob trying to mess with us."

"Is that really something you're going to rely on, Hanna? Is Ali being dead not enough to make you feel threatened?"

"Of course it is! But I'm not going to hide inside 24/7 just because we've gotten a stupid text!" Hanna whispered frustratedly, her hands pulling at her blonde hair. "Just because Alison's dead doesn't mean we can't live!"

"What if this is Alison?" Fred whispered.

Willow turned sharply to the darker haired girl, a horrified expression planted on her face. "What?"

"I'm just throwing it out there."

"Well we didn't catch it," Hanna snapped.

"Yeah, Fred, are you crazy?" Aria inquired, her eyes twice as large as normal. "We just went to Alison's funeral!"

"Does that mean she's dead?" Fred retorted. "Look, Alison knew things about me that nobody else did. And she would make snide remarks at the rest of you that nobody else would seem to get."

"Still, we're at her funeral. Alison's dead," Spencer sighed. "Look, guys, I'm gonna go home. Do you want to stay over? My parents are gone for a few days." After everyone agreed to meet at Spencer's for dinner, they all went their separate ways- aside from Buffy, who chased after Spencer.

"Spencer!" Buffy yelled, finally getting the brunette girl's attention.

"What?"

"What if it's Alison? Or someone who knows what she knew?"

"What are you saying?" Spencer asked harshly, even though she already knew the answer.

"What if this person knows we're slayers?"

* * *

"Maya?" Emily asked, nearly skipping up the steps to her girlfriend-at least, she hoped- on the porch.

"Hey, Em."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize. And to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? Where are you going? Why?"

"My folks found a joint in my room; they're sending me to some rehab camp."

"Maya, I thought you quit!"

"I tried, Em! I really, really tried!"

"Well when do you leave?"

"In three days, but-"

"So we have three days to say goodbye? That's all?" Emily asked, a few tears starting to leak through.

"Actually… I'm leaving right after this. I have a sister, a twin, who lives in Pennsylvania."

"A sister? And you never cared to tell me?!"

"Emily, we are polar opposites. Before yesterday, I hadn't spoken to her in months. I wasn't planning on you having to meet her!"  
"Or know her name, or of her existence, apparently. Nice," Emily snapped.

"Her name is Kendra. And she exists," Maya said softly as she got out of her chair and began to walk towards Emily. "I love you, Em, more than anything," Maya whispered. And, with a quick kiss on the cheek, she was gone.

* * *

Fred had ditched her phone at the door the second she had gotten home, and was only now debating going to go get it. She was a jumpy person by nature. And this whole text thing had only amplified that. But, sooner or later, she was probably going to have to check her phone, in case there was something important.

And she could hear the darn thing buzzing even from the living room.

Sighing, she rose from where she was seated, reading, placed her book on the coffee table, and headed to the front hall where her phone was haphazardly dropped on a table that was occupied by a houseplant. As if on cue, the phone buzzed again.

Fred picked up the appliance in question and unlocked it. Three new messages. Hesitantly, she opened her inbox.

Another sigh, this one of relief, escaped her lips as she saw who they were from. Charles Gunn, her first new friend in months. But don't think on that too much.

Charles: I heard about Alison...everyone's saying you two were close. Is that true?

Charles: If you need to talk, I'm right here.

Charles: We can also get tacos.

Fred giggled a bit as she read the last of them. Opening a blank text, she quickly typed out a response.

Fred: Tacos, you say?

The response came after a minute.

Gunn: I'm buying.

Fred smiled.

Fred: You're on.

Writing out a quick message to her parents, Fred was out the door.

* * *

"Hey, come in," Spencer smiled as she closed the door behind her friends.

"Ugh, I need food!" Hanna groaned, making her way to the Hastings' kitchen. "Caleb has been acting weird and now he's going out of town for a couple days," she sighed. "Where are Fred and Buffy?" She asked, half of a chocolate chip cookie already in her mouth.

"I'm not sure where Fred is, but Buffy should be here soon."

"Em? Are you okay?" Aria asked, noticing her friend's puffy eyes and inflamed nose.

"Maya's gone," Emily cried, suddenly finding herself surrounded by her friends.

"Where'd she go?" Willow asked quietly.

"Why?" A chorus of voices inquired.

"Hey, do you guys have a fork?" Hanna inquired as she came back from the bathroom. "Oh my God, Em, what happened?"

"Maya left," Aria answered softly.

"That bit-"

"Hanna!" Spencer whispered harshly, elbowing the blonde girl in the ribs.

"She went to Pennsylvania to live with her sister, Kendra, who I didn't know existed until just before she left. Honestly, I'm still not convinced."

"Em, I'm so sorry," Willow said.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Buffy asked as she came through the door, stopping as she saw the scene in front of her.

"What's going on?" Fred inquired as she walked in behind her friend.

"Maya's gone," Spencer said, knowing that never saying those words again would be saying them far too soon.

"Guys, I don't want to ruin your night. I think I'm going to go stay with Daphne."

"Em, you aren't ruining anything!" Buffy insisted.

"No, really, the lights are dimming because of all the energy I'm sucking out of this place."

"No, they aren't!" Aria exclaimed.

"They kind of are," Hanna interjected, realizing her mistake when she noticed the dirty looks she was receiving from her friends. "But, it's okay, because the Hastings have enough money to fix it!"

Giving Hanna another cookie, Aria gave Hanna a look. "Here. Put something in your mouth besides your foot."

"Guys, shut up!" Spencer demanded. "Emily, we're having a sleepover after our friend's funeral and a potentially threatening text, we're not all drunk at a New Year's Eve party. You aren't ruining or dimming anything."

"Even so, I feel like I am. And I don't want to bring the mood down further."

"That's ridiculous!" Willow exclaimed.

"Guys, just let her go." Aria whispered.

"Thanks, Aria." Emily smiled as she grabbed her things.

"Just text us when you get there, okay?"

"Of course." And, with that, Emily was gone.

"What the hell, Aria?" Hanna yelled.

"She was obviously uncomfortable, and I didn't want to make that worse."

"Still!"

"She was going to sneak out, anyway! I could feel it!"

"So? You have no idea what her feelings are going to lead her to do!"

"Look, this wasn't just about Maya, okay? Paige died last year, now Ali, and Maya's gone. Anyone and everyone she's ever loved has left. And since she felt comfortable enough with us to come out, even though she hasn't to anyone else, I'm going to guess that she really wants to be alone right now!"

"Don't bring Paige into this! As sad and untimely as her death was, I don't miss her, and I know I'm not alone in that," Hanna stated simply, shrugging.

"Guys, let's not fight over something this petty," Fred said quietly. "We're all exhausted. Let's have dinner and then go to sleep, okay?" Suddenly, all the girls' phones went off. Wincing, they all prepared themselves for the inevitable, only to be surprised.

_I'm safe. -Emily_

"What the hell was she thinking?" Spencer asked, her heart still racing.

"She wasn't," Buffy responded.

"Well I'm still hungry," Hanna said, another cookie almost gone. "Can we eat now and have a panic attack later?"

"Or we could have one now…" Spencer whispered, showing her phone to the group.

_What great friends Emily has, letting her out during the night while I'm around and feeling like trouble. -A_

* * *

"Rosewood, eh? Not much, I must say."

A platinum blonde head was painfully obvious against the darkness of the night. Two figures were present, strolling calmly through the streets.

"You're not listenin'," another voice said, a female with dark hair. Both spoke with strong British accents. "Listen."

"What do you hear, pet?" the first asked with genuine intrigue. The other giggled dreamily.

"The sky...it's speaking to me."

"Oh, yeah? Wot's it sayin'?"

"Oh, they're here, all right. And they're not prepared tonight. It's the moon. It's making everyone...restless."

"The sky told you all of that?"

"Whispered it in my ear."

"Well, in that case, Dru, it's time to get this show on the road."

"Are we gonna get to play, Spikey?"

"Oh yes, pet, we're gonna play."

The female laughed gleefully, spinning around in circles and humming a twisted and melancholy tune that could only have been of her own creation.

* * *

"I hate this town already," Mark Sloan said bluntly as he and his fiancée, Lexie Grey, walked past one of Rosewood's churches.

"Why? You don't even know this place! We've barely seen it!"

"Didn't you read up on this place before we docked?"

"Sure I did! Rosewood, California, a popular tourist destination due to it's ideal location near the coast and-"

"Shut up, you know I didn't mean that. I mean the news. The death."

"Well I don't like to focus on that! Let's see…" Lexie thought for a second, before rattling off names. "Paige McCullers, death by horrific swimming accident on June 30th, 2013, funeral on July 3rd. Alison DiLaurentis went missing on Labor Day of 2013 and was found exactly one year later, her funeral being held yesterday at this very church. There was also an old man, Frederick, who died last week of natural causes at the ripe age of 86, survived by his daughters, Rachel and Alissa, and Alissa's children, named-"

"Lex, you can stop now," Mark smiled. "I think you're scaring those teens that were on the bus with us. Besides, you're just showing off. You know, we don't all have a photographic memory to flaunt. Some of us have to work at it."

"Well maybe that's not all I have to flaunt," Lexie smiled, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

* * *

Willow walked slowly home, not really planning on getting there anytime soon. Thoughts of all that had happened swirled around in her head, unbidden. One day it was life as we have known it, and then next thing you know, everything's changed. The discovery of Alison's body, the rekindling of the friendship that had looked beyond hope for almost a year...everything. It was too much to process.

The pavement was more interesting than she had anticipated, apparently, because next thing she knew, she had slammed into another person.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said immediately, trying to regain her balance. Almost falling over, she was put back on track by a centering hand on her arm. Finally, she looked up to see who she had collided with.

It was a face she recognized, obviously someone from the town and not off that cruise ship. The name came to her as soon as they spoke.

"It's all right. I wasn't looking."

Willow smiled. "Neither was I. Norman, right?"

Her companion nodded. "And Willow?"

"Yeah," Willow affirmed. An awkward silence came over the pair until Willow said, "You were at the funeral yesterday, weren't you?"

Norman nodded a second time.

"I thought I saw you," Willow said.

"I saw you, too," Norman stated.

"Who didn't?" Willow said with a chuckle. "All of us right up front, after all."

Norman laughed with her. "True."

"Were you close with Alison?" Willow asked, not recalling if Alison had ever said anything about the boy or not.

"We talked a bit," Norman said quietly. "My mom wanted to be there. Friends with Mrs. DiLaurentis."

"Ah," Willow said. She got the impression there was something Norman wasn't saying, but she wasn't going to push it.

A phone chimed. Seeming slightly agitated, Norman pulled his out of his pocket. He sighed.

"I'll see you around, Willow," he said, and then he was gone.

"See you around, Norman," Willow said in his wake.

* * *

"Oh my god, this town is far too much for me," Brent Van Camp said dramatically, waving his arms dramatically towards his friend, Tanner Daniels, for emphasis. "Dead people! Here, there, everywhere! Wanna be murdered? I've got the place for you!"

"Brent, calm down. That girl was murdered, like, a year ago. The killer's probably far away, killing other people." Tanner responded.

"Oh, gee thanks, I really needed to hear that," Brent responded, placing a hand over his heart.

"Will both of you shut the hell up?" their friend, Sophie, interjected. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we're here and we're going to enjoy it!"

"Enjoy it with the trio here?" Glenn, the other member of their friend group, inquired, referring to the three leaders of their high school that had also been on the cruise: Caprice Winters, the queen of all things drama and choir, as well as the school's loose network of minority students, 'Schley Osgood, short for Ashley, which was about as edgy as she got. With her perpetually sunny Mormon disposition, 'Schley ruled all wares of shiny gold crosses and goody-two shoes. But neither could hold a candle to Fawcett Brooks. By far the hottest girl in their school, and empress of the rich and popular, Fawcett loved fads and hated fatties. They ruled the school carefully, watching out for anything that might disturb the careful balance of power.

"I doubt they'll get out of the ship's spa to see much," Tanner smirked.

"Hey, who's that creep over there?" Sophie asked, pointing to a man handing out flyers on the street corner. He was wearing a dark green shirt covered in flames and odd designs designed to look like tattoo sleeves. He kept his ring-clad hands over his mouth every time he stopped talking.

"Let's go find out!" Brent exclaimed, already halfway over to him.

"Hello, I'm city correspondent Stefon," the man said, his hands making their way back to his mouth. "What are you looking for?"

"Looking for?" Tanner questioned, still skeptical.

"To do in the wonderful town of Rosewood!"

"Oh, um… Hang out, I guess…"

"Well I can help! The hottest club nearby club is: Trash," Stefon stated simply, his hands once again covering the lower half of his face.

"Then why would we go there?" Glenn asked, confused.

"The name of the club is obviously Trash, dumbass," Brent whispered. "Tell us more!"

"Well, after you step through the stainless steel door to this meat-packing hotspot, you'll be greeted by none other than Pierre, the Muslim Elvis impersonator."

"You have got to be kidding me," Sophie said.

"This club has everything: clones, freaks, sneezing, a Russian man on a prepaid cell phone… And anyone can get in, there's no password! Just do the Cosby face," Stefon advised.

"Well, thanks, but I think we're looking for something a little less… Exotic," Glenn said, trying to lead his friends away.

"Exotic, you say? Another great club is: Your Mother and I are Separating," he stated, his voice deepening and becoming much more serious as he gave the name of the club. "Don't be fooled by the charred Red Lobster sign out front- this club is a burnt down Red Lobster!"

"Seriously?" Brent gasped.

"Seriously. This club has everything: a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, a sensible dinner, those shoes nurses wear- and you can dance the night away to the sounds of Donald Duck having a Vietnam nightmare."

"And what does that sound like?" Sophie inquired sarcastically, not expecting Stefon to suddenly demonstrate. At first it was a snoring Donald Duck, which quickly transformed into insane duck noises, resulting in the waking up of Donald Duck, who then calmed himself.

"Well, thanks, but, we're gonna go…" Tanner trailed off, dragging the enthralled Brent away to a nearby hot dog cart.

"Goodbye!" Stefon shouted after them, waving furiously.

"Ooh! Tan, look at that guy over there!" Brent said excitedly, pointing at a dark-haired man about twenty feet away from them.

"What about him?"

"He's HOT."

"Well, by the way he's got his arm around the pregnant girl, I'd say you missed your shot," Glenn pointed out.

"Hey, you never know who's trapped in the closet!" Brent hissed.

"Can I help you?" Without their knowledge, the man and woman had made their way over to the group.

"Oh, no, really…" Tanner said, trying to put a stop to the conflict before it started.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure I saw you checking out my husband!" The woman's voice rose slightly, causing a few people to look their way. Putting a finger on Brent's chest and staring at him threateningly, she started talking again. "You stay the hell away from my husband, got it?"

"Hey, get your hands off him, you psycho bitch!" Sophie said angrily, jumping in between the two.

"Hey, that was uncalled for," the man said, defending his wife.

"Oh, really? Is she a psycho, and is she a bitch?" Suddenly, everyone was arguing.

"Guys! Stop!" A tall, brunette girl had shown up, eventually convincing the couple to leave and not make things even worse. "God, I'm sorry about them. It's mainly her, partly the pregnancy hormones. But, really, mostly her."

"Do you know her?"

"Yeah, I'm Spencer. That was my sister, Melissa, and her husband, Ian."

* * *

Violet Harmon walked solemnly down a sidewalk. The sun was at an awkward angle in the sky, casting all sorts of weird shadows in the back alleys that she past. Because of this, she was especially watchful of her surroundings, making sure nothing came at her that she didn't see first. You could never be too paranoid in Rosewood.

She stopped dead in her tracks when a noise met her ears. Someone's voice; it was definitely human.

"Hello?" she called, fingering the pocketknife she had stolen from her dad for reasons of her own. A low whimper sounded this time.

"Is anyone there?" Nothing.

Sighing, she shook it off and kept walking, her shoes squelching on the ground. Violet looked down in confusion. And that's when she noticed the blood.

* * *

"Look what we've got here."

"Oh, no. Not you."

"What is it? Not excited to see old Peter?"

A heavy sigh.

"They said a demon."

"And what am I?"

"Annoying."

A slight chuckle.

"Very funny. Lucky you, I am not the demon that you seek. I just came along for the ride."

"I'm not in the mood for your games. Where is the demon that I need to see?"

"Well, don't get impatient, now. Don't worry. The demon will come to you."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, just trust me. He'll be running to you before the week is out."

"Tell me how you know that."

An exasperated sigh.

"Never could go with the flow, could we? Not even for your good friend Peter Pan?"

A low growl.

"How do you know?"

A smug laugh, a gleeful grin, a raise of an eyebrow.

"It's simple, my friend. That's what the vision will tell him to do."


	4. Touched By an A-ngel

**A/N: New chapter, as promised! Again, thank you guys a million times for your lovely reviews :) We so enjoy hearing about your confusion, brain explosions, and other problems. Really, we do. Again, I can promise a Wednesday update for the next 2 (probably 3) weeks! We also have the last few chapters planned out, and, let me tell you, you will cry out all the liquid inside of you. Don't say I didn't warn you! ;)**

**Chapter 4: Touched by an A-ngel**

The moon was high in the sky as Buffy and Spencer patrolled the streets. They'd taken a bit of a chance not doing any monitoring the night of the funeral, so they had to be extra careful tonight. They'd all heard the news the morning after; Kyle Greenwall was dead. Spencer and Buffy knew right away. It had to have been a vampire. Only such a creature would have been able to inflict the damage that Violet Harmon, the girl who had found the body, had described. So there was no leaving post tonight.

Buffy couldn't help but feel guilty. She had abandoned her job, even if it was in a moment of intense grief, and Kyle had paid for her carelessness. She didn't even have to ask to know that Spencer felt the same way, no matter what Giles and Toby said to them to try and cheer them up.

Breaking the awkward silence that had descended upon the two of them, Buffy said, "So… How's Toby?"

A generic question, but effective. Non-intrusive, but caring, all the same.

Spencer smiled, the way she always did when Toby was mentioned. "He's… Good," she responded, her grin spreading from ear to ear. "He's been a little more protective since they found Ali. He was worried enough about me killing things in the night, but add things killing me to the equation? As my mentor, half of his advice now is just to stay in the house as much as possible. I probably have a GPS chip in my brain I don't know about," she laughed. Buffy herself chuckled, trying not to think too much about what her friend had just said. Finding Ali hadn't been the start of their death sentence.

"And has anyone caught your eye?" Spencer asked with a conspiratorial smile that made Buffy slightly uncomfortable.

"Right," Buffy said. "Like I get to have a life. You're lucky; you got the cute Watcher. He came to you. I actually have to go out _looking_ for these guys."

Spencer laughed. "Loosen up, Buff. You're turning into a cynical seventy year old."

Buffy smiled half-heartedly, knowing how uptight she was. But she was a slayer. She didn't get to enjoy the things everyone else did.

"Shut up, Spence," Buffy said, anyway, trying to joke. "You'll be just like me soon. Haven't been in the hunt long enough for you to get like me."

"I know, I know, I'm a young whippersnapper," Spencer said with a teasing smile. Buffy rolled her eyes.

The two then settled into silence once again, rounding a corner. Graveyard, dead ahead.

"My favorite part of the night," Buffy mumbled, evaluating the scene before her. She could see a group of four dark figures, and she knew that their intentions were not of the good kind. She turned to Spencer, who must've been running over the same things in her own mind.

"I take two, you take two?" Buffy asked.

"Sounds fair," Spencer agreed, both of them pulling out stakes as they began to walk to the group.

"My, my, my," Buffy said once they were in earshot of the group. Four male, vamped out heads turned in their direction. "Don't you know to stay out of graveyards at night? The ghosts might get you."

The one furthest right, and by far the biggest, smiled viciously, showing off his fangs for all to see. "Slayers."

"Ooh, you're good," Buffy said. "Tell me: what am I thinking right now?"

With one swift, fluid movement, Buffy brought her leg up and kicked the vampire who had spoken straight in the jaw.

"Too bad you didn't see that coming," Buffy said wryly as the vampire stumbled backwards. The three others rushed her in rage, but Spencer and Buffy were ready. Spencer grabbed the arm of one, twisting it behind him and driving her stake into his back. He dissolved into a pile of dust in an instant. Buffy sent a punch at one of the remaining vampires, Spencer taking the other as the biggest one regained his bearings. She then kicked the one she had punched, pushing him up against a gravemarker where she quickly dusted him. She cast a quick glance to Spencer who, despite not having killed the other vampire, was handling herself just fine. She turned her attention back to the biggest of the now half-gone group, who was glaring angrily at her.

"You're the one Spike was talking about," he said. Buffy didn't bother to ask who Spike was; some other vampire with the same agenda.

"I'm afraid you'll have to tell Spike I won't be able to make it to the tea party," Buffy said with a fake frown. "Darn."

The vampire charged angrily at her, baring his fangs menacingly as if that would scare her. She was a slayer, thank you. He'd have to do more than that.

She blocked the punch he sent her way easily and kicked him once again. He was ready for it this time, though, and it didn't seem to phase him. She tried to stake him, but he grabbed her wrist and threw her to the ground. She rolled backwards and got back to her feet, punching him swiftly in the jaw. He kicked his leg up and hit her stake right out of her fist, sending it flying. Great. She'd just have to improvise now.

Spencer was still fighting the other vampire, but it looked like she'd get the kill soon and could come to Buffy's assistance. Hopefully.

In the meantime, Buffy played defense, blocking blows and rarely sneaking in any of her own. This couldn't have been the only time this vampire had faced a slayer, Buffy could tell. He was too prepared.

Buffy tried to kick him once more, but he caught her leg and twisted, sending her flying and landing on her front, knocking the wind out of her. She winced in pain. Oh yeah. He definitely knew what he was doing.

She rolled to her back as quick as she could, but he had already descended upon her, straddling her waist.

"Won't Spike be happy," he said. "No need to worry about the infamous Buffy."

Buffy turned away from him to see her stake in the grass not too far away. Getting it without him ripping her arm off was the tricky part. She'd have get creative.

She was seconds away from throwing the first punch when the weight was taken from her waist. She looked to her side where someone had tackled the vampire that had been on top of her seconds ago. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that it wasn't Spencer who had come to her rescue.

With a stake of this person's own, the vampire was dusted in seconds. A man in his twenties sat on the ground, staring at the dusty remains of the vampire.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Buffy asked, rushing to the man's aid. He simply nodded.

"Not my first kill," was all he said. She looked at him in confusion.

"Buffy! Are you okay, Buffy?" Spencer was calling from behind her. She turned her attention to the brunette female rushing to her.

"I'm fine, Spence," she assured her friend. Spencer sighed in relief. Buffy turned back to the man.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"A friend."

* * *

"Have you gotten anything from -A since the funeral?" Hanna asked the group as they finished dinner in the Marin kitchen.

"I've gotten something, but it's something I can't share," Spencer admitted, feeling guilty, then better when she found that others had the same experience.

"Wait," Aria cut in, "turn that up," she ordered, pointing at the small TV on the desk that constantly was on the news.

"Again, the rumors are unconfirmed, but there is strong evidence that President Fitzgerald Grant either has had or is having an affair on First Lady Melly Grant with Olivia Pope," the news lady reported, the White House visible behind her.

"Oh my gosh," Fred said, watching intently, seemingly disappointed when the woman's face was suddenly a commercial.

"President Grant is cheating? Now there's something that'll take people's minds off of everything that's been happening," Emily said.

"Maybe," Spencer corrected, always one to think through the problem to the end. "It's happened before… Clinton, J.F.K…. It's big for a while, then it dies down. The White House press comes up with some brilliant cover story and everyone goes back to complaining about the president's foreign policy," she sighed. "It's enough for now, though."

Before anyone else could add to the conversation, all the phones in the room went off.

_You can condemn the President's behavior all you want, but will you still want to when you find out that one of your own has done the same? -A_

"What does this mean?" Willow asked, a terrified look on her face.

"It means that I may have had a lapse in judgement," Aria whispered.

"May have?" Spencer questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, I slipped," the hazel-eyed girl confessed.

"Who?" Hanna asked, a sly smirk crossing her face.

"No, start from the beginning," Buffy demanded.

"Okay…" Aria trailed off, sucking in a breath. "Emmett and I had a fight about a week ago now, nothing earth-shattering, but enough that I walked out and may have gotten a little tipsy."

"This is perfect!" Hanna laughed.

"Han, shut up," Emily whispered, elbowing the giggling blonde in the ribs.

"Anyway, I ended up hooking up with… With Jason."

"Jason? Okay, you can't tell me to shut up anymore. You cheated on Emmett with Ali's brother?!"

"So what happened?" Spencer interjected, trying to keep Hanna's humor to a minimum.

"I don't know… I woke up the next morning and ran."

"Does Emmett know?" Willow asked.

"I still have to tell him…"

"Aria!" Emily chastised.

"Well it's not something that you can discuss over dinner and a movie! After what happened with Simone, Bay was hurting for a long time. And I don't know if he's going to forgive me because I made the same mistake, or be even angrier. I'm not ready to take that risk yet."

"Well if you tell him in ten years when you guys have kids and a mortgage, he certainly won't be any happier that you waited," Spencer said sympathetically.

"Well, gee, I didn't think of that! Of course I'll tell him soon! It's just how… And where… And when."

"How about tonight? Just rip off the bandage and get it over with," Hanna said, having found an interest in helping her friend.

"Look, I'm not sure," Aria sighed. "I'll keep you guys posted."

* * *

"Calm down, pet."

Spike held Drusilla close as she whimpered and muttered hysterically to herself.

"No, no, this can't be. This isn't right."

"What is it?"

"Someone's trying to ruin all our lovely laid plans."

"The slayers?"

"No." Drusilla shook her head emphatically for emphasis. "No, this was someone different. Someone...darker."

"And they've come to help the slayers?"

Drusilla whimpered once more and nodded, rocking back and forth in Spike's arms.

"Brilliant," Spike sighed. "Bloody brilliant."

"I don't understand, Spike," Drusilla whined. "Why would he do this? Why would he do this?"

"Why would who do what, luv?"

"I can feel his presence. He's here...I can feel it. I can feel the _sin._"

"Dru, what are you _talking _about?"

"Angelus…he's here, Spike. I can feel it."

* * *

"Do you have somewhere to be?" Caleb asked, frustration evident in his voice. He and Hanna were supposed to make dinner together, but her head had been on another planet all night.

"Huh?" The blonde girl asked, glancing up from her phone for the first time in the last ten minutes.

"I asked if you had somewhere else you needed to be."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you've been somewhere else this entire night!"

"What are you talking about? I'm sitting right here!" Hanna exclaimed, her volume rising.

"No, Hanna, you couldn't be further away right now!" Caleb yelled, getting up from his chair and heading for the door.

"Caleb, you can't just walk out right now!" Hanna shrieked.

"Not only can I, I am!" He retorted, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

"Why?"

"Because you've been acting different ever since Alison's funeral. At first, I thought it was just because you finally had closure, or something like that. But it's not. So what is this?"

"What is what?"

"There's something you aren't telling me, Hanna!" He shouted. "You flinch every time

your phone rings. You look through the peephole before opening the door, you leave the room to take calls-"

"Caleb, I am telling you everything! Nothing is wrong, okay?"

"No, it's not okay!"

"Well, I'm not keeping anything from you," Hanna stated simply, shrugging and crossing her arms.

"Yes you are, Han! I thought we agreed no secrets!"

"Caleb, I just can't tell you right now!"

"So you are keeping something from me?"

"No, I'm not! I'm just not telling you!"

"Yes, Hanna, because there's such a big difference! Look, call me when you figure this out. Until then, I'm done." And with that, Caleb was gone, the door slamming behind him.

* * *

Zoe Harmon faced her twin sister's closed bedroom door with trepidation. She knew she should go talk to the other girl, but God only knows what her reaction would be. Violet had never been the most predictable. Sighing, and knowing she was probably making a big mistake, she knocked.

No answer.

"Vi?" she asked hesitantly. She heard a slight shifting from inside the room, so at least she knew Violet hadn't climbed out of the window, hopped on a bus, and caught the next trip to Anywhere-But-Here. Because, honestly, it wouldn't have been that surprising.

Using a little more force this time, she knocked on the door again. "Violet? Violet, open the door. I know you're in there."

More amounts of shuffling was audible, and then the door opened a crack. Violet peered out at her sister.

"What?" she asked.

"You gonna hide in there all day long?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow. Violet scowled.

"I'm not hiding," she said bitterly, opening the door wider. "There. Come on in. Not hiding."

Zoe rolled her eyes and entered the room. Without hesitation, she planted herself on the bed. Violet came and sat next to her.

"Now, what do you want?" Violet asked, not making eye contact with her sister. Zoe turned to face the other girl anyway.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Zoe's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, as if she spoke too loud, her sister would fly off the handle immediately. Which was, theoretically, entirely possible. Even so, Violet flinched.

"Want to talk about what?" Violet asked. Zoe gave her a look. Until she realized that Violet was still not looking at her. She sighed.

"Vi, you can't just shut everyone out on this," Zoe said gently. "You need to open up to us."

"Easy for you to say," Violet said bitingly.

"Violet-" Zoe began, but Violet cut her off.

"You weren't there," she said, turning to look at Zoe for the first time. "You didn't see what I saw."

"What did you see, Vi?" Zoe asked, her eyebrows knitting together in concern.

"Enough," Violet said quietly. Zoe took on a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Violet sighed.

"I saw it. I swear to God, those bite marks were there."

"In his neck." Zoe had heard the story when Violet had gotten home, even though that's not the version anyone else in Rosewood would get. Robbery gone wrong would be the story they would receive. Violet nodded.

"They were there...I swear it."

"Vi...the cops said-"

"I know what the cops said!"

Zoe's eyes widened and she recoiled, taken aback by the sudden outburst. Violet slouched, her fierceness from a second ago gone.

"Sorry," Violet said. "But I know what I saw. And it's not the first time something like this would've happened in this town. The abundance of deaths is _ridiculous_."

"What you're saying is...is nuts, though, Violet," Zoe protested.

"That's what they said, too. But I know what I saw."

* * *

Willow was alone at the Bronze. She was supposed to have been accompanied by Buffy, but the blonde had bailed last minute. So it was just her. She didn't mind. Someone had to cheer on Aria's band.

Undoubtedly, the band was a bit of a new development. Aria had just recently been offered a spot in the well-known local band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, through Emmett, the Dingoes' drummer, after one of the members had died under-what else?-mysterious circumstances. Aria had snatched the spot immediately because, let's face it, this band was the only one worth listening to in Rosewood, probably because it had actual talent.

And, so it was, that Willow was alone at the Bronze.

Until Queen C herself walked up.

"Hi, Cordelia," Willow said, trying to remain amiable, even though she realized that

most likely it would do her no good.

"Hey, Rosenberg," Cordelia said.

"Do you need something?"

Cordelia sighed, looking as if she was about to do the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. "All right, just remember, _Willow_:the only reason I'm doing this is because I have to. Got it?"

Willow was confused, but she nodded anyway. There was no use arguing with Cordelia; you wouldn't win.

"I'm failing trig."

Willow was taken aback by the bluntness of it. Not that she was surprised, but she hadn't expected Cordelia to be so forthcoming about it.

"Okay…?" Willow left the question open for elaboration.

Cordelia huffed in indignation. "My dad's insisting I get a tutor, because if I don't pass finals and get some help over the summer, he's not going to let me do all of these things that are none of your business, but I _have _to do!"

Willow's stomach plummeted. She knew where Cordelia was going with this.

"And so I need you to…" Cordelia took a deep breath to regain her composure, looking as if she might die on the spot. "Tutor me."

Willow was pretty sure Cordelia dry heaved a little bit after saying that. And as for Willow...well, Willow was suddenly very uncomfortable.

"Um...isn't there anybody else you could get? I'm sure you could find somebody…" Willow trailed off, frantically searching for a way out. She didn't know if she could handle that much Cordelia.

"Willow, you're just about the smartest person in this school," Cordelia said exasperatedly. "And being Hanna's friend, I don't think it's fair to leave another one of Hanna's friends out in the cold."

Willow winced. Why did Hanna become so popular? This sort of guilt trip was entirely uncalled for. And there was no doubt Hanna would want her to help Cordelia out because, despite all of whom Cordelia was, Hanna still believed she wasn't that bad. Everyone else had...other things to say, but that was beside the point.

Sighing, Willow gave in. "Fine, Cordelia."

"Good," Cordelia said with a very business like smile. Then, in an instant, it was gone, replaced with a vicious glare. "And if you tell anyone about this, I promise, I will kill what little social life you have left."

And the business like smile was back, and then Cordelia was gone, leaving Willow with a very uneasy feeling. It only intensified when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

_Tutoring Cordelia, huh? Does that count as fraternizing with the enemy? I wonder what Fred would say. -A_

Oh, yes, Willow was really feeling uneasy now.

* * *

"So how are you?" Toby asked.

"What do you mean? I'm fine," Spencer smiled, snuggling closer to her boyfriend for warmth.

"I mean, you guys took on four vampires last night. Not only that, but you just attended your best friend's funeral. You can't just use your Hastings genetics to bounce back from something like that."

"Maybe I can," the brunette smirked, her mocha eyes gleaming.

"Spencer…"

"Toby…"

"I'm serious."

"Me too! Yes, it sucks. But we all assumed Ali was dead, anyway. Had we not accepted that a long time ago, I would be much more emotional. But the girls and I all grieved when we realized the most likely option." Noticing her boyfriend's disbelieving look, Spencer groaned, turning to face him fully. "Toby, I told you, I'm fine!"

"What about the slaying?"

"Slaying is just… Part of it now," she sighed.

"Part of what?" Toby questioned.

"Everything." Seeing Spencer's saddened expression, the blue-eyed boy made an attempt to cheer her up.

"Well, if I may say so myself, your Watcher is pretty great," he smiled.

"Oh, really?" Spencer smirked, her voice's distinct rasp making an appearance. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one, I hear he is very good looking. And two, he kicks ass at Scrabble," Toby grinned, knowing that she would never get over his Scrabble triumph.

"Okay, that was one time!" Spencer laughed, smacking him playfully on the arm.

"One times five?" Toby asked, mischief evident in his eyes.

"Shut up!"

"Oh, but I can't. I'm not done listing off everything I've heard about your Watcher."

"I'm pretty sure you are," Spencer giggled, standing up from her comfortable position on the couch.

"Fine, I can be done listing of the many wonderful attributes of your Watcher, but you have to come back. That's just the rule."

"Tobes, you know I want to. But it's getting dark."

"Do you have to?" Toby pouted, making his way over to his girlfriend and hugging her as closely as possible.

"You know more than anyone that I have to," Spencer sighed, holding him tighter, wanting nothing more than just to stay in his arms all night.

"Well be safe," he said sternly, kissing her affectionately on the head.

"Actually, I was thinking about changing things up. Maybe wear a target, or a sign, or jump in front of cars for fun."

"Don't joke," Toby breathed, pushing a stray piece of hair behind Spencer's ear, causing her to blush. "You know that every time you leave I can't breathe until you come back."

"I know," she murmured, once again pulling him into a loving embrace before looking him in the eye. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

"I love you," he whispered, his eyes memorizing every detail of the beautiful girl before him. It was hard enough to say goodbye to a loved one without knowing that it could very well be the last time you saw them. It would be hard to say goodbye to Spencer if she was going on an airplane, or a sketchy jungle adventure. But, here he was, sending her to protect thousands of people from the things that go bump in the night.

"I love you more," Spencer smiled, kissing him softly. "Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone." And, suddenly, Toby was once again alone, just him and the never-ending movie reel of the various ways Spencer could die playing in his head until she returned to him, where she belonged.

* * *

Daniel "Oz" Osbourne was used to the long nights of performing at the Bronze. They never really got less tedious, though. The screaming and loudness was cool, at first, but then you'd get past the part where it was partially for you and then it was just, well, screaming and loudness.

Not that he didn't enjoy the performing; he did. Well, except when the band was moving towards this new sound where...they suck. Then it wasn't always so great. But usually it was pretty cool. It's just...loud. The constant nearness to the speakers generally didn't help.

It was halfway through one of their loudest songs when Oz remembered he should probably look out into the audience once in a while. Considering that he had not, he took a quick glance out. His gaze was met by a cute redhead sitting by herself at a table. She looked to be one of the few who was actually paying attention to and even enjoying the music.

She was met soon enough by another female, a tall, tan brunette whom Oz was pretty sure was his bandmate, Devon's current girlfriend. Whatever the two were talking about seemed to be upsetting the redhead, even though she was trying not to show it. It was actually giving Oz some genuine feelings, like concern.

The bassist, Allen Francis Doyle, mostly known as just Doyle, had maneuvered his way over to Oz almost without Oz noticing. Almost.

"What're you staring at so enamoured?" Doyle asked, his Irish accent shining through, and somehow Oz was able to hear him.

"Who's that girl?" Oz asked, nodding to where the redhead sat, still talking to the brunette. The more he looked at her, the more he was certain he had seen her, probably around school.

"Her?" Doyle asked. "That's Cordelia. Cordelia Chase. Y'know, Devon's new knock-out girlfriend?"

"Not her," Oz said. "The other one."

"Little Red? Beats me."

Oz nodded, still observing the redhead long after Cordelia had left the table.

* * *

Buffy felt bad for leaving Willow hanging at the Bronze. They had it all figured out; Spencer would take her patrol, and then Buffy herself would have to take Spencer's patrol sometime to make up for it. And then this guy shows up.

Buffy still didn't even know his name, or who he really was. But she'd never seen anyone fight like that. Well, anyone aside from herself and Spencer. He was good. Almost Slayer good.

And so naturally when he'd left a creepy note asking to meet (still not sure how he knew where she lived) on her porch, her first instinct was to agree.

Yes, she was quite aware of how stupid that sounds. But she could take care of herself if need be, and this guy...didn't seem evil. She wasn't sure what he seemed, but evil was not it.

And so she stood exactly where he had asked to meet, waiting for him.

Just when she was sure he was going to be a no-show (and she was going to feel even worse for bailing on Willow), he emerged suddenly from a shadow, managing to startle her, which was a pretty impressive feat.

"You came," he said, a slight smile on his lips.

"I did," Buffy agreed. "What do you want?"

"Straight to the point," he observed.

"It's my style," Buffy said. "You wanted me here for a reason, what is it?"

He seemed to observe her for a minute, then said, "You remember Spike?"

Buffy eyebrows came together in confusion. "Spike? The guy that vampire was talking about?"

"That's the one."

"What about him?"

"You don't want to underestimate him. Take it from me; I know. You haven't seen him yet, so out of sight, out of mind, but he will be coming. And you and the other slayer better be prepared."

Buffy digested that. "Oh yeah? And how do I know I can trust you?"

"You wouldn't have come here if you didn't." He started to walk off, leaving Buffy still severely confused.

"Wait!" she called after him. "Who are you?"

He paused for a second then said, "They call me Angel."


	5. Why We Fight

**Chapter 5: Why We Fight**

Willow hated to walk home alone at night, but it's not like her parents were there to give her a ride or anything. And as for driving herself...another luxury that was not hers. She was condemned to the pedestrian life.

It had gotten a lot later than she had anticipated. She wasn't generally out this late on a...well, ever. And she'd be lying to say she wasn't a bit nervous. It was Rosewood, after all. You'd be stupid not to be a bit anxious.

Willow hadn't made it far when she swore she heard footsteps behind her. She whipped around quickly, but saw no one. She looked all around her, just to make sure. Nothing.

_Great, _she thought to herself. _You're so paranoid you're imagining things. Clichéd things, no less._

She continued on her way, albeit a bit more quickly now. She could feel her heart speeding up with every step she took, as every sound was amplified. It didn't help that her house was considerable distance away.

Willow was increasingly aware of her surroundings. So much so that she nearly shrieked when someone touched her shoulder. She whipped around and came face to face with Jesse McNally, a friend from school.

"Oh, hi, Jesse," she said feebly, trying to get her heart rate down. "You-you scared me."

"Sorry, Willow," he said with a friendly grin. "Didn't mean to. Just thought you might like some company."

Willow smiled weakly, still trying to calm down. "Thanks."

The two settled into a slightly awkward silence. Willow really didn't know what to say. She hadn't spoken to Jesse in a while; he was mostly Xander's friend. In fact, it had been a while since she'd even seen him at school.

"So, I heard about Alison," he said sympathetically. "Must've been rough for you. I know you guys were friends."

"Yeah," Willow said, thinking of all the times someone had said something like that to her in the past couple days. It happened more times than she could count. "I think after a while though, I kind of just expected the worst."

Jesse nodded, and the silence was back with a vengeance. Willow racked her brains for something to say, but nothing came to mind. Finally, Jesse broke the silence for her once again.

"Alison always was pretty hot," Jesse mused, almost to himself. Willow's brow furrowed. She wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Okay," she said slowly, slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm just saying, it made her an easy target."

Willow didn't like how this conversation was going. She never knew how morbid Jesse could be. She wondered how often he was like this.

"I wonder what she tasted like," Jesse said quietly. Willow gasped.

"W-What?" she asked nervously, edging away from him. Her nervousness was back, full-throttle.

"Oh, come on, a guy can't help but wonder," Jesse said, smiling sickly at her. Willow continued to back away. "How about you?"

"H-Huh?" Willow asked, though it came out as more of a squeak.

"What do you taste like?"

Willow's eyes widened in sheer terror as Jesse's face morphed into something that wasn't _human_. His forehead grew ridges, his eyebrows moved together into an angry "V", his eyes turned yellow. But worst of all, when he smiled then, she could see the sharp, pointed canines he possessed.

"Jesse?" she asked hesitantly, staring at the creature that still looked like her friend as he smiled back at her.

"Hey, Will," he said, lunging forward. Willow jumped out of the way, screaming in horror. Not risking another glance back at him, Willow took off sprinting towards her house.

It was made quite apparent that she hadn't done much running lately very quickly. She was not suited for this, but she couldn't stop. She wasn't even sure how close behind her Jesse was.

Breathing heavily, she came up to the street she lived on. She was just about to make the necessary turn when Jesse was suddenly right in front of her.

"Why'd you go so soon?" Jesse asked, pressing a hand over her mouth to make sure she wouldn't scream again. "We were just getting to the good part."

Willow stared at him with wide eyes, too terrified even to cry. He moved her head to the side and pushed her hair out of the way. It was obvious he was going for her neck.

"I want to have some fun, too," a familiar voice came from Willow's left. "Can I join in? Or is it invite only?"

Jesse turned to the voice, pushing Willow away from him.

"Hey, Buff," he said. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Jesse," Buffy replied, then turned her attention to the redhead next to him. "Get out of here, Willow."

But Willow was glued to the spot, petrified. Buffy was going to get herself killed.

Jesse lunged at Buffy, but Buffy was ready. Ducking expertly, she began an epic display of hand-to-hand combat. Willow watched in awe, uncertain of what she was seeing. What did Buffy do in her free time?

Buffy and Jesse were lost in a blur of color until Buffy pulled out what looked like a...stake and plunged it straight into Jesse's heart. With an angry hiss, Jesse disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Willow sank to the ground.

"Buffy…?" Willow questioned quietly, desperately trying to process what she had just seen.

"Willow," Buffy said, at her friend's side in an instant, gazing at the redhead in concern. "Are you okay?"

Willow took a moment to find her voice again, then stuttered out, "Y-Yes."

It was true. Other than being shaken up and very out of breath, Jesse hadn't harmed the redhead.

"C'mon," Buffy said. "We better get you home."

Buffy put her arm around Willow's shoulders, rubbing her back comfortingly as the two walked to WIllow's house in silence. Upon their arrival, Willow pulled out her key and unlocked the door.

"Y-You can come in," Willow said. "My parents aren't home, anyway."

Buffy followed the other girl into her house, a place she hadn't been in in over a year. The two walked into Willow's bedroom and sat down on the bed, something Buffy had done a million times over, pre-Alison's disappearance.

Willow didn't know what to say. What _was _there to say? 'Oh, you just saved me from and killed what I think was a vampire, who was also sort of a friend of mine, and by the looks of it, it's not the first time you've done that.' That didn't seem like the thing to put out there at that time. So, instead, she hoped Buffy would say something first.

"So...uh...that," Buffy said sheepishly, answering Willow's prayers. "You probably want an explanation, don't you?"

Willow nodded, then faltered. "Well, only if you want to. If you don't want to, don't. That's okay too, I guess, I don't mind. It's probably none of my business anyway-"

"Will, slow down," Buffy interjected.

"Sorry," Willow said.

"Well…" Buffy began, sounding unsure of where to start. "I...uh, well, what exactly are your beliefs on vampires?"

* * *

Giles was going to be pissed.

That was all Buffy could think as she walked from Willow's house. Slayers weren't supposed to tell about that side of them. It was this whole secretive thing delegated by a group of bitter old men and women. But she didn't really have a choice, did she? 'Don't worry, Will, you were just hallucinating. Kay, bye!' Like that would've worked.

No, she had to tell Willow. There was nothing else she could've done about it. Willow's not an idiot; she would've put the pieces together, if she hadn't already. It wasn't worth trying to keep it a secret from the redhead any longer.

Giles would, most likely, still be pissed.

Buffy sighed in resignation as she came to that conclusion, walking down the street, going to her house from the girl in question's. There was nothing to do to escape the British man's wrath. And he wouldn't yell or slap her on the wrist; oh no. That would be somthing she could deal with. He'd just have to deal with his disappointment and "I really thought you knew better than this, Buffy". _That _would be the real problem.

"Hey."

Buffy whipped around at the sound of the voice behind her. Angel stood with a slight smile on his face a few feet away from her. Buffy relaxed.

Angel had been a regular face on her night patrols. Well, whenever Spencer wasn't with her. Buffy had gotten to know some things about him; he was pretty cool. And, admittedly, really cute.

"You're lucky I looked before I staked," she said. "Just because you're not a vampire doesn't mean sharp wood won't hurt. A lot."

Angel looked highly uncomfortable for a split second, but then his slight smile was back.

"So, what're you doing out here?" Buffy continued, turning back around and continuing on her way.

"Came to see what's going on," Angel replied, stepping up beside her.

"Vamps. Dust. Same old, same old," Buffy said vaguely. Angel chuckled.

"Anything else?"

"No," Buffy said, a little too quickly, which she was sure Angel caught on to. She couldn't say why she didn't want to tell him about the incident with Willow, but, for whatever reason, she felt as if she didn't want anyone to know. "Why would you think something else happened? Nothing happened."

"Okay," Angel said, smirking bemusedly. Buffy sighed.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm just...jumpy."

"So I see," Angel replied. Buffy sighed once more.

"It's just...a friend of mine was attacked tonight," she said, not sure why she was telling him, of all people, this. Practice for the real Giles thing, she supposed. "I...uh...I got there in time, but all I could think was: what if I hadn't? It would've been good-bye Willow Rosenberg, hello another dead friend."

"You mean Alison," Angel realized. Buffy looked at him in surprise, stopping in her tracks.

"I don't remember telling you about her…"

"Word gets around fast in this town."

Buffy relaxed, walking once again. She couldn't really argue with that. Everyone and their Uncle Larry seemed to know all the details of Alison's life before her disappearance; there was no reason Angel shouldn't.

"Yeah, Alison," Buffy said finally. "And I just don't think I could've dealt with that."

Angel stopped walking now, turning to look at the slayer. "Don't worry about that now. She's still alive, after all."

"Yeah, but…" Buffy began, hesitating for a moment, "what if something like this happens again? I might not always be there."

"No, you're right," Angel said noncommittally, "but someone else might. You're not in this alone, Buffy."

"Aren't I?" the blonde slayer asked quietly, not looking Angel in the eye.

There was a pause before Angel said, "There's more people in this than you think."

Buffy frowned, unsure of what he meant. Nonetheless, she said nothing. Buffy and Angel once again began walking, though not for long before three people, two males, one female, blocked their path, stepping out from an alley. Buffy knew immediately that they were vampires. Nobody else was that cliché.

Buffy looked them over quickly, evaluating them. Something about them seemed...old. Like, really old, even by vampire standards. And that was never a good sign. The older they were, the more experience they had.

The three didn't waste any time in surrounding the two of them. They said not a word as they began their attack.

The female went at Buffy first, the two males apparently preoccupied with Angel. She threw a punch that Buffy easily dodged, but was ready for all of Buffy's own attacks. Buffy went for her stake, but the vampire caught her by the arm, spun her around, and brought her close to herself, going for Buffy's neck.

Buffy brought her leg up and kicked the vampire away, taking a split second to look at Angel. He had dispatched one of them, but the other one seemed to be doing just fine. Buffy turned her attention back to her own fight to see the female vampire charging at her. Buffy side stepped, pivoted quickly, and began a back and forth battle with the vamp.

Buffy could tell her assumptions of these guys being old were right; they knew _exactly _what they were doing. They weren't the new kids on the block. And from her few quick glances at Angel, she could tell he wasn't doing much better.

It happened all at once. One second she's fighting doomchick, next second, the vampire's completely vanished. She looked in confusion to see the the female vampire and the male vampire scrambling to get up off the ground. The next thing she was aware of was Angel grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off. He must've thrown the other vampire at the female. With a _lot _of force.

"Time to go," he said, and they took off. She could hear the vampires righting themselves and following after her, but she ignored it, realizing how close she was to her house.

"C'mon," Buffy cried. "My place is just over here."

Angel followed after her, but she couldn't help but noticed his slight reluctance at first. She'd think about that later. She had to focus on one foot in front of the other right now.

After what seemed like an eternity, she was in front of her house. She took the porch steps two at a time and threw the door open.

"Get in!" Buffy shouted at Angel, who didn't hesitate. Buffy followed, and forced the door close, locking it and using the deadbolt. She looked out the front door window anxiously.

"Don't worry, they're vampires," Angel said breathlessly. "They can't get in unless they're invited."

"Really? I've yet to test that out," Buffy said, taking a look at Angel. She could see blood seeping on to his shirt. "You're hurt."

Angel looked down, acting as if he hadn't even noticed. "It's nothing."

Buffy sighed. "C'mon. Let's get you cleaned up."

* * *

The girls had been going about their morning, not caring much. Emily had gone out for pre-school caffeine, Spencer had practiced for field hockey, as she was gunning for Varsity captain. They were perfectly content worrying about mundane things, thrilled, more like it. That was until the intercom went off.

"Will the following students please come to the office: Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Buffy Summers, Spencer Hastings, Willow Rosenberg, Winifred Burkle, and Hanna Marin."

The girls, all having been in the same hallway, joined up and began to walk towards the office together. It was dead silent until Buffy's phone went off.

"Wait…" she trailed off, the girls gathering closer around her. "It's from -A," she said, her voice almost in a state of disbelief.

"Dead Girls Walking…" Hanna read off the screen, letting out a breath as she shook her head. All looking at each other, the girls nonverbally agreed to move on and head to the office for whatever was waiting for them.

"So, let's see," Detective Wilden said, flipping through his various files. "You," he started, pointing at Spencer, "thought you heard her scream."

"I- I said that, yeah," she stammered.

"And when the rest of you woke up, in the barn, Alison was gone... and so was Spencer?" He questioned.

"Yes," Spencer stated, "I woke up before them, and I realized that Ali was missing, so I w-"

"So you went looking for her," Wilden finished.

"That's what happened," she smiled back tensely.

"Yeah, I got that," he nodded. "So what's up? Was this a slumber party, or…?"

"Is this an interrogation?" Buffy asked bluntly.

"No, just a routine follow up," he responded. "So why did you guys all fall asleep?"

"I guess we were tired," Aria shrugged.

"Tired, really?" He inquired, his tone letting on that he wasn't buying it. "Is that how you remember it, Willow?"

"Yeah," Willow answered quietly, her head nodding slightly.

"Yeah, you guys were tired," Wilden muttered, writing in his notepad.

"Look," Spencer said, "we've told you everything that we know."

"Just like we did the night she went missing," Fred added, voicing her opinion for the first time.

"I know, I know," he stated. "You see, the thing is, it's almost exactly what you said last year. Almost like it was rehearsed," he finished, noting Emily's sudden guilty expression.

"Like Spencer said, we've told you everything that we know," Aria said.

"Well then you ladies are free to go." He sighed, watching them suspiciously as they walked out.

* * *

"He knows we're lying," Willow said, obviously uncomfortable as she pushed her untouched lunch away.

"Lying is not a crime," Hanna stated very matter-of-factly.

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police!" Spencer whispered harshly. "It's called obstruction of justice."

"Please, we lied about drinking! The only truth that matters is that we have no idea what happened to Ali that night."

"We also know about someone who may have wanted to hurt her," Spencer pointed out.

The Jenna Thing. It wasn't a popular topic among their group of friends, but everything going on with Alison had brought up some unwanted memories.

_It was the fourth of July. The eight best friends were having a blast at Emily's, trying on clothes, gossiping, and giggling up a storm. Alison put on a cute pink top with a blue and red pattern, enjoying the positive feedback she was receiving from her friends. Turning to see for herself in the mirror, her blonde locks suddenly whipped back around._

"_I can see you!" She yelled harshly, stomping over to the window. "Oh my God, I can't believe it!"_

"_Who was it, Ali?" Emily asked._

"_What'd you see?" Willow shrieked, panicking._

"_He was in that tree, spying on us!" Alison said angrily. "I am so creeped out!"_

"_Who was it?" Spencer inquired, fed up with waiting for the big reveal._

"_It was that perv, Toby Cavanaugh."_

"_Well are you sure?" Buffy asked._

"_Yes, I'm sure, he was right there!" Alison exclaimed. "I bet he saw us all naked…"_

"_Well, should we tell someone?" Fred questioned, seeming to be the calmest out of the group._

"_I mean, we could..." Alison responded, breathing heavily, her scared expression turning into a twisted smile. "...But I have a better idea."_

_Before any of the girls could comprehend what was happening, they were all in front of the Cavanaugh's garage._

"_Are we sure he's not in there?" Aria inquired for what seemed like the millionth time._

"_He is not, okay? You've got the lighter, right, Spencer?"_

"_Let's wait a second," Emily demanded, grabbing Alison's arm._

"_What, Emily?" The blonde girl snapped, obviously done with her friends questioning her._

"_I don't want to do this."_

"_Me neither," Willow chimed in._

"_Fine! Go back, you're on your own."_

"_Maybe they're right," Aria interjected. "We should just call the cops, they'll take him in and take care of it!"_

"_Where's the fun in that?" Alison asked, a twisted smile once again finding its way onto her face. "Girls, Toby Cavanaugh is a freak," she claimed in a last-ditch effort to get them onto her side. "And we need to teach him a lesson! If he thinks he can come and spy on us while we're in your bedroom, Emily, he needs to know that his little domain is no longer a safe little hideout." Noticing her friends still doubtful expressions, she tried again. "I mean, who knows what he does in there all day, that little freak!"_

"_Are you sure that it was Toby?" Spencer asked skeptically. She didn't know him that well, but he didn't seem like one to do what Ali was accusing him of._

"_Yes!" Alison whispered, exasperated, "And it's a stink bomb, for God's sake! We're not nuking the place! Now let's do it!" She declared, walking towards the garage. "Give me the lighter," she instructed Spencer, grabbing for it. After a moment of hesitation, Spencer walked forward, pulling the desired object from her pocket and handing it over. Lighting the stink bomb, Alison opened the garage door, peering inside. She quickly threw the sizzling object, slamming the door shut. _

"_Run!" Aria commanded, the girls already moving out of the way. Suddenly, glass was shattering and a girl could be heard screaming._

"_Ali, what'd you do?" Buffy yelled._

"_We have to get of here!" Hanna cried._

"We should have told the police about Jenna's accident the night it happened," Emily interjected softly.

"I wanted to, remember?" Fred asked.

"We had a chance to do more than tell the truth, we had a chance to stop Ali!" Aria exclaimed.

"But we didn't," Spencer and Buffy responded simultaneously.

"And telling the police now about what happened to Jenna isn't going to make her see again," Buffy added. "It'll just ruin our lives."

"Spencer, how can you go along with this? Especially with Toby…" Fred trailed off.

"Believe me, guys, nobody feels worse about Toby taking the fall than I do. But at this point, clearing his name would do more harm than good. People in this town are just starting to accept that he isn't an awful person, and bringing that back up again would be a disaster," Spencer declared, any remaining parts of her speech forgotten as the girls heard a distinct tapping noise that belonged to the cane of Jenna Marshall.

"Oh my God, she's back in school, too?" Buffy asked, the entire group focused on the brunette girl struggling to find a place to sit. Suddenly, Aria stood up and made her way over to Jenna.

"Jenna? Hey, it's- it's Aria. Do you wanna come sit with us?" She inquired, responding with a helpless expression to her friends' puzzled faces.

"Sure," Jenna answered after a moment, placing a hand on Aria's shoulder for guidance, allowing her to carry her lunch tray over to the table.

"So you're going to be between Emily and Willow."

"Thank you."

"Yep, and here's a chair," Aria smiled, pulling a chair from the table next to theirs.

"So…" Jenna began, "this would be Alison's chair, right?"

"No," Emily responded, a little too quickly. "We're not even sitting at that table."

"You know, she came to visit me in the hospital after the accident," Jenna said, folding up her cane nonchalantly as if she had just mentioned the weather.

"Alison did?" Buffy asked, her eyes doubling in size as she leaned in.

"M-hm," Jenna smiled slightly. "Everyone misunderstood Alison, but I knew exactly who she was," she finished, receiving looks from every girl at the table.

"When did you get back, Jenna?" Spencer interrogated.

"We heard that you were in San Diego at a school for the… visually impaired," Willow said, her momentary burst of confidence over.

"You can say blind, Willow. It's okay! It's not a dirty word," Jenna stated politely as she opened her juice. "Wow…" she commented. "It's so quiet! You guys used to be the fun table! What happened to you girls?" She laughed.

Once again, the girls all flashed back to that night, wishing they could've done something, anything, to stop Alison. However, they were shaken from their thoughts by the ringing of cell phones.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" Jenna asked, handing Spencer's phone to her from across the table. Taking her phone, Spencer, along with the other girls, read the new message.

_If only she could see how guilty you look… -A_

* * *

Doyle was relatively certain he was suffering some sort of hearing loss from his multiple musical escapades at the Bronze. The ringing in his ears was becoming permanent, which was more than bit annoying. But he supposed he should've expected something like this after a year and a half with the Dingoes. Their motto was practically 'Play loud, and they won't notice we suck'. It didn't generally work.

"Hey, Doyle."

The stoic, practically emotionless voice of Oz Osbourne came from his side. Doyle turned to face him.

"Hey, Oz."

Oz's eyes narrowed as he studied Doyle in perplexion for a moment before stating, "You look like you didn't sleep much."

Doyle sighed. "I didn't. Kept having the...weirdest dream."

Oz's eyebrows furrowed, one of the few expressions he ever allowed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Some...brooding guy, all overhanging forehead, was there. Like he was trying to tell me somethin'. I just don't know what."

Oz nodded, looking thoughtful.

"So, if I fall asleep," Doyle continued, "just slap me."

"I can do that," Oz said matter-of-factly. Doyle chuckled, then gasped as a bright light seemed to flare up behind his eyes. He closed his eyes hurriedly, but it did nothing to help. A pain worse than any headache he'd ever experienced erupted in his skull. Vaguely, he was aware of Oz saying something, but he wasn't sure what.

Behind his eyelids, fragmented pieces of reality played like scenes from a badly scratched DVD. Overhanging forehead was there, storming through some back alley. Next thing he knew, he was seeing a brawl between ten or so different men, overhanging forehead one of them. Another vision, this one of that man all alone facing the moon. And then Doyle was crashing back into reality, gasping for breath.

"Doyle, man, you okay?" Oz asked. Doyle brought his hands up to his temples, trying to focus back on what was actually happening.

"Yeah," he said, his voice weak. "I...yeah."

Oz didn't look convinced, but the boy didn't pry. It wasn't his style. Instead, he asked, "Who's Angel?"

"Angel?" Doyle asked, taken off guard.

"The name you just said a minute ago. Angel."

* * *

Willow was having a rough time, to say the least. The texts from -A, being attacked his by a vampire, finding out two of her best friends were vampire _slayers_...it was a lot to take in. And all the while, she had to help _Cordelia _get ready for exams.

Granted, Cordelia picked up on things a lot faster than Willow had ever expected, but it was still unbelievably awkward. Especially considering she was president of the "We Hate Cordelia Chase Club". The irony was not lost on her.

Cordelia seemed to have the decency to keep her snide remarks to a minimum whenever Willow was around, though. She probably realized the redhead could get up and leave any time she wanted, leaving Cordelia stranded. And Willow had been debating it, that was no lie. But as it was, she had yet to do that, so her afternoons were now spent in the school library.

Willow usually arrived in the library long before Cordelia did, leaving her alone with the librarian, Giles. Normally, she wouldn't have minded; she was rather fond of the British man. He was a lot better than most of the teachers. But after the recent discussion with Buffy, she wasn't sure what to feel. Rupert Giles was Buffy's Watcher. Willow had yet to figure out what to do with that knowledge.

And exactly the situation she found herself in now.

_Does nobody ever have to go to the library? _Willow asked herself as she sat awkwardly at one of the tables, waiting for Cordelia. Giles was currently in his office, but she knew he wouldn't be in there for long.

Right on cue, Giles stepped out into the open.

"Oh, Willow," he said in slight surprise. "Hello."

"Hi," Willow said with a small wave, smiling uncertainly. In the back of her mind, Willow wondered if Giles knew she knew. Would Buffy have told him? What would he have thought if she had? Did he trust her enough to have this knowledge?

Realizing she was way over thinking this, Willow shook the thoughts from her head. He probably didn't even know she knew. And if he did, what's the big deal? It's not like there was some elitist group of people who got to know what goes on after dark. Well...there was, but she was over thinking again.

"What brings you here?" he asked. Oh, yeah, people really didn't go to the library like most schools.

"Tutoring Cordelia," Willow said.

"Ah yes," Giles said absently, gazing around the room. "You haven't, eh, perhaps seen Buffy Summers, have you?"

Willow shook her head. "She's probably around somewhere."

"Ah, yes, well," he said, still not seeming to really be paying attention to her, "I have some...books I must get to her."

Willow frowned in concern. She didn't like the way Giles was acting. He seemed very preoccupied with finding Buffy. Something was happening, and even though Willow wasn't very familiar what, exactly, slayers went up against, she figured this was nothing good.

"Is everything okay, Giles?" Willow asked hesitantly, uncertain of whether she was going too far.

Giles blinked in surprise, as if he had first noticed she was there. "What?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh, er, yes, everything's...fine." He did not seem to convince even himself.

"Oh, good, you're already here."  
Cordelia strutted in through the double doors, coming to Willow's table. "I was _so_ not waiting in the library."

"Oh, uh, hi Cordelia," Willow said, observing Giles as he chewed on the end of his glasses.

"Well, are we gonna do this or not? I have a life, you know," Cordelia said exasperatedly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Willow said, prying her attention away from the nervous librarian who could only be waiting to bear bad news.

* * *

"Hello, Captain."

"Oh, bloody hell."

Killian Jones, more commonly known as Captain Hook, sat in his chambers in the S.S. Tipton, a quaint cruise ship that he...may or may not have commandeered. Standing before him was the little demon himself, Peter Pan.

"Who let you in?" Hook had been hoping to make it through the rest of his life without ever seeing that smug little face again. Apparently, that was too much to ask.

"You really should have known I'd be coming," Pan said with a smirk.

"I thought maybe you'd have the decency to stay in Neverland. Isn't that what you always dreamed of, anyway?"

"The Powers needed me elsewhere."

Hook sighed, bringing his hands up to cover his face. The Powers That Be. Something he would never escape. "They needed you here to torment me?"

Pan chuckled. "That was just an added bonus. There's something else they need from you."

Hook fixed Pan with a steady glare. "What is it?"

* * *

Norman sat on his bed, gazing at his shoes. The police had been over to talk to his mother. Everyone was a suspect in Alison's murder, even friends of the girl's mother. Norma had handled all of their questions with ease, but afterwards, he'd seen her anger. She never was able to keep her calm.

"Who do they think they are?" she had said, hurrying inside off the front porch. "They have no right to ask those kinds of questions!"

Norman had tried to calm her down, but if anything, it had just made her angrier.

"No, Norman, you just don't understand. Just...go do something useful."

Useful turned out to be examining all the scuffs and marks on his sneakers, but she didn't need to know that.

To tell the truth, Norman was nervous. For his mother, but also for himself. If anyone knew…

Norman urged himself not to think about it. No one needed to know. Willow hadn't remembered, it seemed. Maybe no one would.

Norman jumped when he heard the doorbell ring. He knew his mother would be there in a minute, but he was curious. He crept over to his door, opened it slightly, and peered out into the hall. Norma was walking towards the front door, fiddling with her cardigan sleeve. She opened the door then, and froze.

"Hello, Mother."

* * *

Oz was incredibly unsure as to why he was still at school so late. You could barely get him there when he needed to be, and now, nearly an hour after classes got out, he was still hanging about. He supposed he could credit it all to no ambition to go anywhere else. With nowhere to be, there was no reason to leave.

Until Principal Snyder kicked him out.

He'd been expecting it, really. A part of him sort of wanted to see how long he could push it, though. He'd made it longer than he'd ever expected. He'd really expected Snyder to be on the warpath pretty much immediately.

As it was, Snyder had gotten around to it eventually and wanted no "trouble making musician" still on school property. Which wasn't cool because Oz didn't really make trouble. He agreed to "vacate the premises" anyway.

He collected the few things he needed and headed for the nearest exit, but paused as he saw the library doors swing open. Cordelia Chase exited. Oz frowned thoughtfully. He didn't think, from what little he had heard about Cordelia, that she would even know they had a library.

"So, anyway," he heard her say, because she wasn't exactly being the most quiet a person could be, "I _told _her that those shoes just did _not _go with that outfit, but did she listen to me? Big no!"

Oz gazed at her in confusion, wondering who she was talking to. Finally, a ginger head was visible trailing behind the brunette. It was the girl from the Bronze. He knew it in a second.

He could sense the girl's discomfort. He'd be uncomfortable too if he was stuck in what seemed to be an entirely materialistic conversation. Though it did intrigue him how she'd gotten into that position to begin with.

The two girls walked to the doors and exited the school in moments, leaving Oz once again alone, with only one thought.

_Who is that girl?_

* * *

"Giles, what is it? You're all jumpy."

Buffy faced her Watcher, observing him in amusement as he scanned pages of old, dusty books, chewing on the end of his glasses. Giles looked up at her, and Buffy was struck by how serious he looked.

"Buffy, I believe we have a problem," Giles said gravely.

"A problem?" Buffy asked nervously. "What, some vampire getting testy?"

Giles shook his head. "I fear it may be worse than that."

"What do you think is going on?"

"I-I fear...some dark power is rising." Giles returned his attention to his books, flipping pages rapidly. "I fear something is being summoned."

"What do we do about it?"

Giles looked Buffy straight in the eye then, a grave look upon his face. "There may be nothing we can do to stop it."


	6. The New Normal

**A/N: I have NO idea what happened to this chapter! It was normal-looking when I uploaded it! Anyway, enjoy! If any of you are confused by the girl Toby talks to, she is an SNL character that might make you pee yourself a little.  
Also, a little shameless plug- the pie in the face challenge. One of my cousins started a pie challenge for Alzheimer's, much like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. LET'S START THIS THING.**

**Chapter Six: The New Normal**

To say Aria was relieved was an understatement. Though Emmett was frustrated and feeling betrayed, he had not broken up with her after she confessed to cheating on him. He understood her situation and knew what it felt like to be dumped after a drunken mistake. However, Aria didn't fail to notice how every time anyone in the movie they were watching got handsy, he found an excuse to leave the room.

"Wait, so he just… Forgave you?" Spencer asked.

"Kind of... I mean, he was really upset, but he said he knew how it felt to make a mistake like I did and get your heart broken for it," Aria replied, switching her phone to the other ear, trying to hide the confusion in her voice.

"Aria, what aren't you telling me?"

"What?"

"I can hear it. You're keeping something from me, I know it."

"No…" Aria trailed off.

"Yes. Now tell me, or I'll get the other girls over to your house for a tell-all session," Spencer threatened.

"I think I like Jason," Aria blurted, speaking so fast that her friend on the other end could barely comprehend what she was saying.

"You what?" Spencer nearly yelled.

"Calm down!"

"Calm down? When you have feelings for Alison's brother and a boyfriend that is not him?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Just don't tell the other girls, okay?" Aria pleaded.

"Well, are you going to?"

"Yes, at some point! I just need to figure this out," the small girl sighed.

"Let me help you. If you break up with Emmett for Jason after he forgave you for sleeping with him, you will never get a second chance. Or a third, for that matter, because I'm pretty sure you're on your second," Spencer smirked.

"Well thanks," Aria said sarcastically.

"Now, if you tell Emmett what you're feeling, he might understand, but chances are he'll get really upset. If you keep it a secret, it might work for a while, if you're good at hiding it."

"So… I should keep it a secret?" Aria inquired.

"For now. But I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why?"

"The truth always comes out, Aria. One way or another." Looking out the window, Spencer realized she had to get ready to patrol. "Hey, Ar, I have to go, but I'll call you back, okay?"

"Sure! What's up?"

"Oh, Toby's here," Spencer lied. "I promised him a date night."

"Well have fun," Aria smiled, her tone changing to something much more suggestive.

"Shut up!" Spencer laughed. "Goodnight, short stuff."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Noel Kahn had always been one of Rosewood's most intriguing citizens. Being the younger brother of notorious party boy, Eric Kahn, he had quite the reputation to live up to- and he did just that. Alison had always described him as brainy and immature, a description nobody could argue with. Aria had harbored a crush on him prior to Alison's disappearance, but that seemed to fade afterwards, and then abandon her altogether once she met Emmett. She had ran into him through Alison more than anything, really. She was the only reason they were ever invited to an infamous Kahn party.

_It was October 28, 2008. The eight girls were walking around town discussing potential Halloween costumes._

_"So what do you think, Will? Should Hanna be cute Britney or bald Britney?" Alison asked, looking back at her friend._

_"If she wants to be cute Britney…" Willow trailed off, not sure where her sentence was heading._

_"What do you think, Aria?" The blonde girl inquired again._

_"She's not gonna shave her head," Aria laughed slightly. Noticing Spencer and Buffy's preoccupation on their phones, Alison decided to comment._

_"Guys, you're worse than my father," she sighed._

_"Sorry," they both apologized, shoving their devices back into their pockets._

_"I think that Hanna should be who she wants to be," Spencer declared, jumping in._

_"Fine," Alison smiled. "But you better wear the tightest skinny jeans you can fit your big butt into," she smirked, not caring about the astonished looks she received, and any potential flack being avoided by Emily's phone going off._

_"Ben?" Fred questioned slyly, referring to Emily's boyfriend, causing her to smile._

_"He's all about me going as a sexy cop for Halloween," she explained, "but I'm thinking Indian girl." Suddenly, a silver car far too nice for most high school students pulled up next to them._

_"What a shame," Alison smiled, "all that testosterone and not a sheep in sight."_

_"Careful, Alison," Noel smiled, suppressing a laugh. "I get your jokes, but some day, you might meet a guy who doesn't." Noticing all the girls chuckling, he turned to them. "So, am I gonna see you at my party on Friday?" He questioned._

_"I, uh, didn't know we were invited," Aria shrugged, her face giving away all the excitement within her._

_"You're Ali's friends, right?" Noel smiled, turning back towards the road when another car pulled up behind him and honked. "Come prepared to be scared," he warned before his friend drove off. Before he was halfway down the block, the girls were jumping for joy._

_"Wait… Did we just get invited to Noel Kahn's Halloween bash?" Hanna shrieked._

_"I'm a little embarrassed about how excited you girls are," Alison stated, shaking her head. "It's just a party."_

_"Ali, it's not just a party!" Willow argued._

_"It's THE party!" Fred finished, her excitement getting a smile out of their queen bee._

_"You're right," she laughed. "And I'm happy we'll be there together."_

Strangely enough, Hanna was faced with a similar situation now.

"Hey, Hanna," Noel smiled. "Mona," he nodded, addressing the dark-haired girl next to her. The two girls had bonded after Alison's disappearance, both having been peasants to the queen bee, now determined to transform themselves and become popular. The two had shared everything: secrets, gossip, even a few less-than-legal shopping trips. Though everything going on had cut down on the pair's alone time, Hanna still made sure to make time for her friend.

"Hey Noel, what's up?" Mona asked.

"Noel's parents are out of town this weekend, and you know what that means," Hanna grinned.

"It means the party of the year is officially on," Noel announced excitedly. "Think big, think wild… Think parental units in a different time zone."

"Can't wait!" The girls smiled.

* * *

Emily walked into the grille, more nervous than she had been in a long time. She had contacted the LGBTQ support group at a nearby school, hoping for some advice and a shoulder to lean on.

"Hey," a nearby blonde girl called out. "Are you Emily?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm Emily," she responded nervously. "Are you…?"

"Samara," the girl cut her off, smiling. "I go to Sheridan Prep, I'm a member of the campus pride group…" Samara trailed off, noticing Emily's confusion.

"Yeah, sorry," Emily apologized. "I didn't realize you'd be so…" she trailed off, trying to find the correct words. "...Punctual," she finally finished, chickening out of whatever she was about to say.

"So come on, sit down! What did you want help with?" Samara inquired.

"I just… I was dating this girl, Maya. She had been out since forever and got really frustrated whenever I would get scared that people would find out about us," Emily confessed.

"Why were you scared?"

"Because of my family. Mr. and Mrs. Military and their perfect daughter," she sighed. "And I know it sucked for her, like it was one step forward and two steps back, but she wasn't in it alone."

"Look, I get it. I've been on Maya's side. I was with a closeted girl when I first moved here, and it was nothing but drama."  
"So what happened?"

"I realized that if it was meant to be, it shouldn't be this hard," Samara explained, stopping when she noticed Emily's fascination with the clock. "Something tells me you have somewhere to be," she commented, smiling intuitively.

"I'm sorry," Emily sighed. "There's this big party tonight and my friend and I were going to get ready for it right about now."

"Sounds fun!"

"You should come!"

"Oh, no, I couldn't ask you…"

"You're not asking, I'm inviting," Emily smiled, digging up a piece of paper and pen from her purse. "Here's my number," she said, scribbling the numbers down as she spoke. "I'll text you with the details."

"Can't wait!"

* * *

Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Willow were heading out of the Hastings' mansion for Noel's party, but were stopped by Hanna suddenly looking very concerned.

"Okay," she sighed. "I need to ask you guys something, and I need you to be totally honest with me." After her friends agreed, she divulged what had been on her mind. "Is this side of my face fatter than this side?" She asked, turning her head back and forth for them to observe.

"No," they all answered after looking carefully. However, the look on Hanna's face gave away that she still wasn't convinced. Before she could investigate further, a familiar face starting strutting towards them.

"Hey!" Mona chirped, preparing to hand something to them. "The first one is for my bestie," she smiled, giving Hanna a loving glance. "And one for each of you, my bestie's other friends," she explained as she handed the other three the black and white papers tied with yellow ribbon. "I'll have to find the rest of your little club at the part."

"Oh, what's this?" Aria inquired.

"Oh, nothing, only an invitation to the most awesome end-of-school party ever!" Mona exclaimed. "Camp Mona!" Her voice was, in a way, calm with excitement.

"Camp Mona?" Willow asked.

"Don't let the camping part scare you- it's glamping, not camping! 'M' is for Mona and massages, NOT mosquitoes." Before anyone could say anything, she was on to her next partygoers. "Oh! Naomi! Riley! Wait up!" She called, waving excitedly to her friends and walking away.

"Why is Mona inviting us to her party?" Spencer asked, her voice slightly sarcastic.

"Well, she knows that we're friends again, and she's just trying to reach out to you," Hanna explained. "She's trying to be nice," she stated, noticing that her friends weren't exactly buying it. "So… Are you gonna go?"

"I know she's your friend, but…" Spencer trailed off.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass," Willow added.

"Yeah, I've got some stuff to do this weekend," Aria chimed in, her voice sympathetic. Before Hanna could object, a chorus of ringtones went off.

_Camp Mona's a scavenger hunt, and I'm the prize. Come and find me, bitches. -A_

* * *

Emily and Samara pulled up to the Kahn cabin, the music of Dingoes Ate My Baby and the laughter of drunk teenagers filling their ears.

"Come on, lighten up," Samara smiled, noticing Emily's saddened expression.

"I should've just stayed home," the tan girl sighed.

"Why? Because you're here without Maya? What are you supposed to do, spend the

rest of the school year hiding under your bed? Emily, we aren't here on a date. We're just friends, okay? Samara reassured her as they walked into the mayhem.

Upon entering, Emily hoped with all that was in her that her friend was not

claustrophobic. Sean, Hanna's ex-boyfriend, and Ben, Emily's ex-boyfriend were playing foosball while surrounded by about twenty tipsy classmates. Once Ben noticed Emily, the look exchanged set off alarms in Samara's head.

"What happened between you two?" She asked.

"It's… Not important."

"Em, that look wasn't even close to less-than-friendly. He looked angry."

"It happened a long time ago, okay?"

"What did?" Samara persisted, causing Emily to let out a sigh.

"Look, one time in the locker room he went too far, and my friend, Toby, beat the crap out of him."

"Is that where the little scar under his eye came from?" The blonde girl gasped.

"...Maybe…"

"Care to tell?"

_Emily was exhausted after swim practice. She was the only one in the locker room, and wanted nothing more than to change, go home, and sleep. She heard the door slam shut, followed by a few other strange nosies, which made her a little paranoid, but she convinced herself it was just the coach or another swimmer._

_"Hello?" She called out, no fear in her voice. "Hello?" She tried again, still receiving no response. "Anybody here?" Emily was a little freaked out now, holding her towel tight. "Hello?" Determined to figure out what was going on, she started walking around the corner to be scared by none other than Ben Coogan, her boyfriend. _

_"Oh, God!" She gasped, breathing heavily._

_"Damn," he smirked. "You're jumpy!"_

_"How did you get in here?"_

_"I walked," he shrugged._

_"Yeah, well, if somebody catches you-" she started, cut off by his chuckle._

_"I'll take my chances. Besides… We need some alone time," he said, his voice getting lower as he grabbed her by the shoulders._

_"I need to get dressed," Emily responded, clearly uncomfortable._

_"Don't bother," he smiled, toying with the shoulder strap over her swimsuit._

_"I can't do this now," she interrupted, moving his hand away. "My mom's expecting me." "What's up, Em?" Ben asked rather harshly. "Last week, you were all over me in my car; this week, I'm some marching band geek with Funyun breath. What's going on?"_

_"Nothing," Emily lied, knowing exactly what was going on. It was Maya. She had tried for so long to talk herself into liking boys, being straight, but Maya messed with her head. "I've just… I've got a lot on my mind, okay?"_

_"Alright," he whispered, pushing her back against the lockers. "Maybe you need to relax," he suggested, waiting a moment before kissing her, only to be pushed off._

_"Ben, I can't do this right now."_

_"Come on!"_

_"I'm serious, stop!" Emily demanded, her tone more serious. "You're acting strange," she said, trying anything and everything to get him off of her. "Ben, get off of me! Get off!" She shrieked, but to no avail. _

_Suddenly, Ben was slammed up against the lockers opposite her, another guy pinning him there. Ben elbowing the sweater-clad attacker, knocking him down long enough for Emily to register to who it was. It was Toby, Toby Cavanaugh. He had just gotten back from reform school, where he was sent after allegedly blinding Jenna. _

_However, Ben didn't have long to recover before receiving a punch in the face that threw him back into the lockers. He groaned, wiping the blood off his face before going for round two. However, he was no match for the other guy. His head was back in the lockers before he could even try to throw a punch._

_"That's enough!" Emily shouted, worried about not only their safety, but her own. The two were all over the small section of the locker room that she felt obligated to stay in for the duration of the fight in case someone needed help. "Guys, stop!"_

_"Is he a friend of yours?" Ben spat, his voice muffled by the blood overflowing in his mouth. "Is he the reason you're acting like this?" He inquired, still fighting (and losing) all the while._

_"Ben, get over yourself, okay?" _

_"Get over myself?" _

_"It's done," Emily declared. "We're over." And, with that, Toby looked at Emily, telling her to run without uttering a word. Quickly, she grabbed all her things and ran, knowing Toby would be okay handling Ben on his own._

"Wow," Samara breathed. "That's…"

"Intense," Emily finished for her. "It was. But I gained a really good friend," she smiled, seeing Spencer and Toby in their own little world in a less-crowded area.

"Is that him?" Samara asked.

"Yeah, that's Toby, and my best friend, Spencer."

"They look happy," the blonde girl observed. "Are any of your other friends here?"

"Hanna's here, but she's probably drinking her heartbreak away. You can meet her another time," Emily laughed. "And my friend Aria isn't here… Her mom had an art gallery thing tonight, and Meredith was there, so she's a wreck."

"Who's Meredith?"

"The woman Aria's dad cheated on her mom with," Emily explained bluntly.

"Oh… Wow…" Samara trailed off. "Hey, are they okay?" She inquired, gesturing to Spencer and Toby, who appeared to be discussing something serious. It was intense, yet it didn't look like they were fighting.

"Yeah… It's been rough. Everything with Alison and her death…" Emily trailed off, her attention captured by the lovebirds leaving the cabin hand-in-hand. "But come on, this is a party! The Dingoes are playing music totally not appropriate for a party and I want to have fun!" She giggled, dragging her new friend into the chaos.

* * *

Aria was furious. But she wasn't the only one. Emmett had been in charge of the set list for the party, but he had just put down every sad and angry love song that he could think of. He had been given an estimated amount of guests and told what kind of party it was, yet couples were still drunkenly making out to "Surrender".

"What the hell is this, Emmett?" she angrily asked, half signing out of anger.

"What?" he signed back.

"'Pain'? 'Shadows'? 'Violent'? 'Liar'? 'Too Far Gone'?" She questioned. "Either you're trying to send me subtle messages that aren't very subtle, or you suck at partying."

"Guys, let's calm down," Oz intervened. "This is a party, and the two are you are one of the only couples not playing tonsil hockey- a fact I am incredibly grateful for. We have a break for the next half an hour, and we can rewrite the second half of the set as a group. Okay?"

"Fine," Emmett signed, storming off before anything else could happen.

* * *

Buffy and Angel stood side by side, walking down the streets in the dead of night. Buffy wasn't sure why she continued to meet him, but something about him made her think she could talk to him. And there wasn't really anyone else she could talk to. Giles had instructed her to not even tell Spencer until he was sure Toby had. And it's not like many of her friends knew about the real night life. Willow did now, but Buffy figured it wasn't a good idea to freak her out with the information Giles had given her.

Angel was her only option.

"And he's sure?" Angel questioned, not in doubt, but more in genuine concern.

"He seemed pretty positive," Buffy groaned. "He generally knows what he's talking about…"

Angel was silent for a while then, seemingly mulling over all that she had said. The silence that accompanied them then was not awkward, however, and Buffy couldn't help but wonder how long it was since she hadn't felt the need to always find a way to fill the quiet whenever it appeared. Eventually, Angel spoke again.

"Does the other slayer-"

"Spencer," Buffy interjected, realizing neither she nor Spencer, on the night they had met him, had provided the taller slayer's name.

"Spencer," Angel said. "Does she know about this?"

"I...don't know," Buffy admitted. "Giles said not to talk to her about it until he was sure her Watcher had told her. She may not."

Angel nodded, silent once again. Buffy could see his eyes darken, however, and she knew that couldn't be a good sign.

"What're you thinking?" she asked hesitantly.

"Spike and Dru," he said, almost to himself.

"Oh, there you go again with this Spike guy," Buffy said. "Who is he? Must be pretty important if everyone's talking about him. And who's Dru?"

"Pair of vampires I-uh-ran into a while ago," Angel said, not meeting her gaze. He wasn't telling all of what he could. Buffy frowned.

"Really? What's so bad about them?"

"Don't underestimate them, Buffy." Angel was suddenly gravely serious, staring her down. Buffy was taken aback by his expression. "Spike's killed two slayers already. There's nothing stopping him from trying to kill a third or a fourth. And Drusilla's just fuel to the fire."

"Angel…" Buffy said hesitantly, still uneasy of how desperately solemn he said, "I've

taken on vampires who want the slayers dead before. Spencer too. Isn't that what they all want?"

"Not like these two," Angel said. "Buffy, they've both been around for longer than a century. And they're...creative."

"How do you know so much about them?" Buffy asked. "What, did you do a report for

your freshman Vampire History class?"

"Buffy," Angel said sternly, and Buffy averted her gaze. Angel obviously had some sort of history with those two that he wasn't ready to share.

"I'll be careful, don't worry," Buffy said, then added as an afterthought. "Do you think it's these two that are summoning this dark power?"

"It's likely," Angel said, but his attention was elsewhere. He stared past her, eyes narrowed.

"What?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"Do you smell that?" Angel asked.

"What?" Buffy repeated, sniffing the air.

"Blood," Angel said darkly, taking off in the direction of the cemetery. Buffy followed

after him in confusion.

* * *

Willow almost hadn't come. She still wasn't sure she should've. She'd been jumpy ever since her encounter with Jesse, and this party wasn't helping. She'd only showed because Hanna had begged (and promised four or five times to give/find Willow a ride home). And where was Hanna now? God only knows. Somewhere drowning her sorrows with various types of alcohol.

She would've felt more comfortable if Alexis, or Xander, or Fred were there. Somebody else who was out of their element. But none of them showed, and all of her friends that were there were having no trouble fitting into the crowd. It was just her.

Willow had wandered outside relatively quickly. There weren't that many people out there, just a few people milling about here and there and a couple who looked like they were going to go all the way in the bushes. Willow tried not to pay attention to that.

Surprisingly enough, Willow could hear the music much better outside than in. That was good by her. She liked the Dingoes, even if it seemed all they were playing were break-up songs tonight. Someone hadn't thought that through. Even so, they still sounded pretty good.

Another couple rushed outside then, giggling and holding hands. Willow noticed the odd looks they gave her as the maneuvered past the spot of the front porch steps she occupied, but she ignored it. She already knew parties weren't her thing, she didn't need the reminder.

Willow noticed immediately when the music stopped. She turned in confusion to see (through the wide open door, of course) the members of the band dispersing.

Must be their break, she thought, turning back around. It wasn't long before she noticed another presence on the porch with her. She glanced over her shoulder to see the lead guitarist of the Dingoes, Oz, staring at a plate of...something, as if he had no idea how it had come to be in his possession. Suddenly, his gaze met hers.

"Hey," he said, turning his attention back to the plate.

"Hi," Willow said. The two settled into a highly awkward silence until Oz held the plate out to her.

"Canapé?"

* * *

Hanna downed most of what was left of her bright blue drink, once again punching in those all-too-familiar numbers on her phone, and groaning when it once again went to voicemail. "Caleb, where are you? Why aren't you answering my calls? Are you mad at me? Can you just call me back so I find you?" She slurred, taking another drink before hanging up.

Turning back around towards the crowd, someone had already swooped in by the time she realized she had dropped her lifeline.

"Dropped your phone," Noel smiled, bending over to pick it up.

"Thank you," Hanna replied. "God, this punch is so tasty," she commented, stumbling over her words.

"Well, it's best consumed rapidly and repeatedly," he instructed, pouring more into Hanna's near-empty cup. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Hanna sighed happily, knocking her cup into Noel's a little too hard, the punch splashing out everywhere. "Oop!" She laughed, too intoxicated to care, tripping backwards a little.

"Whoa," said a different voice. Turning around, Hanna was happy to see Lucas Gottesman, a good friend of hers. Though she had helped Alison make fun of him while she was alive, calling him Hermie the Hermaphrodite, she had always felt guilty, but never brave enough to do anything.

_They had been down by the river, all eight best friends. It was an ideal summer day- warm, yet breezy. It was perfect. Lucas had his small sailboat out on the water, and was quite obviously enjoying himself._

_"I wish we could just choose the age that we wanted to be, and just stay there," Aria said, looking around at her friends. _

_"The only way to do that is to die young," Alison sighed, almost dreamily. "Leave a beautiful corpse."_

_"Don't joke," Fred said, looking uneasy at the topic._

_"It's not a joke! Oh, come on, haven't you guys ever thought about how deliciously tragic it would be to die in some incredibly mysterious way?" The girls could all tell she was imagining her twisted fantasy and loving it. "That would be… Superior."_

_"Is that really how you want to go, Alison?" Buffy asked skeptically._

_"Not just yet…"_

_"Don't talk like that," Hanna demanded, getting a little weirded out._

_"It's gruesome," Willow added, shuddering a little._

_"It's not gruesome. It's immortality, my darlings," Alison smiled. Thankfully, the conversation was stopped when she spotted one of those she hated most within spitting distance. "God," the queen bee groaned, "Jenna the jerk is looking at us."_

_"That's a very second-string crowd she's with," Aria commented._

_"Why doesn't she just take her D-List gang and go home instead of sitting here and creeping me out?" _

_"Jenna's here," Willow started, "Where's Toby?"_

_"Out in the woods, sacrificing squirrels," Alison shrugged, smiling, Aria and Emily chuckling at her jab._

_"Don't you ever get tired of shooting at the low-hanging fruit?" Buffy inquired, her and Spencer both shooting daggers, noticeably tired with her antics._

_"Don't ruin a perfect day, Buffy," Alison demanded, her brain still stuck in her dreamland._

_"It is perfect," Fred smiled._

_"Friends forever," Emily declared, looking lovingly at those around her._

_"Yeah," Spencer agreed, grinning. "Even when we get really old."_

_"Well, well, well…" Alison trailed off, not acknowledging the sappy moment. "Something new has been added," she smirked, looking off into the distance._

_"Noel Kahn, inspecting the troops," Hanna smirked, noticing the dark-haired boy lathering up one of their classmates with sunscreen._

_"You know, you really shouldn't go out so soon after a boob job," Alison snipped. "Let them drop down to where they're supposed to be before you take them out."_

_"Prudence Finn had a boob job?" Willow asked disbelievingly._

_"She had to do something to compensate for being named Prudence," she chuckled. "Thinking about it, Aria?"_

_"Thinking about what?" Aria asked, confused._

_"Doing something like that to get Noel's attention." It was no secret that their tiny friend had been harboring a huge crush on Noel for quite a while, something Ali loved to rub in._

_"No!"_

_"Aria likes them brainy," she grinned._

_"Cute, rich, and brainy," Hanna corrected, her friends giggling. "You get the whole package with Noel Kahn."_

_"You know, personally, I like someone with a little more maturity," Alison started. "Not that Noel doesn't have potential… He just lacks a little seasoning," she explained, reaching over to touch her friend's arm. "He's perfect for you, Aria. Don't be too coy," she advised._

_"There go Noel and Prudence," Fred observed._

_"Off to the Kissing Rock," Alison commented. "People have been sneaking off to the kissing rock for hundreds of years."_

_"You're making that up," Buffy challenged._

_"Just because I make it up doesn't mean it's not true! You go there with somebody, and you can feel the ghosts of the other loves spying on you… Pushing you to do it."_

_"Oh, please," Spencer interjected._

_"You know, you should never disappoint a ghost," Alison continued, now looking at Emily. _

_"It's just a dusty old rock," the tan girl responded._

_"Who do you want to take there?" Alison asked suggestively, making Emily uncomfortable. She was the only one that knew Emily was gay, and had no trouble dangling that over her friend's head for the fun of it._

_The girls continued giggling and fawning over their crushes, until Alison decided that she wanted to have more fun. _

_"Creepazoid alert," she warned as Lucas ran past them to retrieve his boat. "Hey, Hermie!" She called. "You gotta camera on that thing? Making Das Booty, or something?" The blonde joked, her friends giggling out of obligation, though Hanna just forced a small smile, keeping her head down._

_"No," Lucas replied innocently. "My rudder got stuck."_

_"I bet it did," Alison agreed. "Go frighten the fish."_

_"Hey!" Hanna jumped in, finally standing up to her friend. _

_"Hey what?" Alison challenged._

_"...Nothing," she sighed._

_"Never look back, Hanna. Something might be gaining on you."_

"Hey, where have you been?" Hanna asked her friend, leaning on him for support.

"You're the one that's been on your phone all night," Lucas pointed out.

"How'd you even get invited? No offense, but Ali kind of destroyed you socially. She and Noel always flirted around, I'm sure she said some less-than-kind things about you."

"Well, I'm sort of friends with Jenna. And since Noel and Jenna are… Whatever they are… I got invited through her," he explained.

"Why on earth are you friends with Jenna?" Hanna inquired, her lack of filter even more apparent under the influence.

"Because we think alike. We both were tortured by Alison, and we talked a lot after her disappearance and her funeral. We were both angry, and talking helped sort things out."

"Well that's good, but stay away from her, okay? You don't know what she's capable of…"

"Okay," Lucas smiled, "I think you've had enough."

"Actually, you don't know what I think," Hanna slurred, stumbling over her own two feet as she tried to walk on her own, shoving whatever food she could find in her mouth. "You don't even know the half of it."

* * *

Willow had been blowing up Fred's phone all night long. Well, until about a half an hour ago. But still, it was obvious the redhead had been desperate for some company at that party Noel Kahn was hosting. Fred felt bad; she had been invited, for whatever reason, but she had no intention of going. Sadly, that meant she left her friend all alone.

Hopefully she'd found some company since she'd disappeared from their conversation. Maybe she just went home. Either way, Fred hoped the other girl was a little less in freak out mode.

Fred, herself, had actually made some plans, for once. She'd met Gunn at the Grille that night, probably the first night in months that she'd spent with someone other than herself, her parents, or the girls.

And Gunn was sweet. He could manage to distract her from the catastrophe that was her life right now. Well, almost. But that was a start.

However, it had really thrown her for a loop when Wesley Wyndham-Pryce had come in and Gunn and he already knew each other. They were worlds apart; Gunn, a high school drop-out making his way on the streets, and Wesley, a nerdy, British high school senior who was probably too smart for his own good. And yet the two got along like best friends.

So Fred's night was a welcomed change. She knew it'd be back to normal when it was over, though.

* * *

If there was a heaven, Toby assumed that this was hell. Spencer had been introducing him to her friend, some girl she had met at equestrian camp, when Hanna had called, leaving Toby in what he could only assume to be hell.

"So…" He started awkwardly, not sure what to do.

"Do you know about politics?" She asked bluntly, not giving him a chance to answer. "Okay, because what's happening right now is a disgrace. It's awful! It's uncontionable!" She exclaimed, not noticing Toby's bewilderment over her made up word.

"I'm sorry, what is?" He inquired, trying to keep up.

"Society, Toby. We're in trouble. You know it, I know it… But do you even know it?" She asked.

"Uhh…" Toby stuttered, "I'm not sure I follow."

"Exactly," she said triumphantly, pulling out her phone. "It's like, this needs to stop. And, like, but also, like," she trailed off, putting her phone back into her clutch. "We need to get this started, like, are we better than them? Are you better than them, Toby? She interrogated.

"Better than who?"

"It's 'whom', Toby," she stated, shaking her head somberly. "But I guess we're just supposed to accept that…"

"I… uh… wh-" But, once again, the blue-eyed boy was cut off by Spencer's friend.

"No!" She declared loudly. "People are angry, Toby! Society's angry! And, sometimes, it's not angry enough," she proclaimed. "Open your eyes, people. War, hunger, diseases… It's like, pick one!" She announced, seemingly appalled. "It's like, if I eat french fries with dinner, then I do the rest of the day good," she explained, though Toby was still beyond confused.

"I'm sorry… Wait, what?" Could Spencer and Hanna's call last any longer? His girlfriend owed him for this. Big time.

"It's getting warm, Toby. And this is on a global scale," she said, her free hand gesticulating every word. "Do the math."

"Look, I hate to cut the conversation short, but-"

"You know what I hate?" She interrupted. "Posters."

"I'm sorry?"

"Posters."

"Are you saying 'posers' or 'posters'?" Toby inquired, frustrated.

"The point is, like, what are we doing? I'm the mirror, Toby. For society. I'm a fire. And a band-aid. It's like, sometimes, when you rip a bandage off a band-aid, it hurts," she said, oblivious to the errors she continuously made. "But, sometimes, it heals. MACKENZIE!" She shouted suddenly, waving furiously over to the other side of the room. "Mackenzie!" Sighing when her friend didn't reply, she turned back around, much to Toby's dismay.

"You need to wake up, Toby. We're talking over eleven million a year."

"Of what?" He asked, exasperated.

"Okay," she started, digging into her purse. "I need to give you this website. I met this guy and it was like phooooo," she divulged, her free hand trying to express what she was feeling. "My brain exploded. I need to go to Croatia so bad," she declared, already on another topic.

"It's been great talking to you, but I should go find Spencer-"

"I just wanna, like, teach you, Toby. Like, do you even read? A billion people just died every day, in your backyard," she informed him, obviously unaware of how that statement could be perceived in Rosewood. "And it's your fault, okay? Okay, lemme show you! Okay, watch," she demanded. "Close your eyes," she instructed putting her hand in front of his face, then pulling it back. "Open them." Toby did, and looked around. Everything was the same. Confused, he turned to her with a puzzled expression. "See what I mean?" She asked, smiling, looking incredibly proud of herself. "You're welcome." Just as Toby was about to start losing his cool, Spencer swooped in, saving him.

"Hey, Tobes, I'm so sorry, but we have to go," she smiled. "It was nice seeing you again!" She waved to her friend.

"You are SO going to pay me back," Toby groaned. "That was the longest conversation of my life!" Suddenly, Spencer pushed her lips against his.

"I'm sorry," she breathed. "Is this payment enough?" She grinned, her gleaming mocha eyes fluttering shut as his lips were once again on hers.

* * *

Angel could run. Fast. So fast that Buffy almost fell behind, which would've been strange considering Slayer speed was kind of a thing.

But, that being said, she was able to keep close to him as he led her straight to the cemetery. He stopped her right outside of the arched entryway, sniffing at the air.

"Do you still smell it?" she asked, following his example. She could smell nothing.

"In here," he said, and he entered into the cemetery, Buffy close at his heels. Guy must have a good nose.  
Angel weaved in and out of gravestones with amazing precision, as if he had walked this trail a thousand times. Buffy could not claim the same grace, almost tripping over multiple gravemarkers, sticks, and once her own feet. You'd think being a slayer would make her more accustomed to walking all kinds of terrains, but for some reason her feet wouldn't work right right then.

When Angel finally stopped, Buffy almost walked right into him. He stood impossibly still.

"What is it?" Buffy asked, glancing around him. "What do-"

Buffy stopped immediately. All the air seemed to leave the universe as she looked at the scene before her. Someone she could only imagine who had been a teenager or older lay against a gravestone, no skin whatsoever. Their head appeared to missing as well.

"Who would've done something like this?" Buffy asked incredulously, prying her eyes from the grisly vision. She turned to Angel, who seemed to be about ready to dry heave.

"Angel, are you alright?" He didn't seem the type to get squeamish, ever.

"I have to get out of here," he said desperately, but he couldn't seem to stop staring at the body.

"Angel…?"

And then Angel looked at her, but with a face of a vampire. Buffy screamed.

* * *

"Hanna!" Mona shouted, doubting someone ten feet from her could hear over the Dingoes suddenly party-worthy music. Running towards her friend, she could barely catch her breath when she reached her destination.

"Hey, what's up?" Hanna asked, her slurring slightly better.

"Well, I wanted to ask-"

"Hold on," the blonde girl laughed. "Is that Becky Newman?"

"It looks like her hair got into a fight with her face, and they both lost," Mona laughed, quickly switching targets as Lucas walked by.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hey!" Hanna greeted.

"Hey," he repeated, directing his statement at Mona. "I'm Lucas."

"Great! Can you be Lucas over there?" Mona questioned snarkily, not paying attention to where she was pointing, making him chuckle uncomfortably.

"Umm…" he stuttered, his eyes pleading for help from Hanna, which she pretended not to notice. "I'll see you around, Hanna."

"See you around," she replied, offering him a small smile before he walked away. "Rude much?" Hanna asked her friend, obviously angry.

"Am I in a parallel universe, or did you just engage in conversation with Hermie?" Noticing the blonde girl's face get even more angry, Mona tried to justify herself. "Isn't that what Alison called him?"

"He is not a hermaphrodite, okay? He's a nice guy! Saying 'hi' to him isn't a crime."

"It should be! You didn't bust your ass to become Rosewood's "It Girl" just to make chit-chat with Shim," seeing her friend get more furious than ever, the brunette was ready to give up. "If you and I start slipping up, we're gonna be right back at the bottom again."

"Yeah, well, I'm starting to think I've lost a few things on the climb up."

"Look… "You can go Kamikaze if you want, but I will cut your rip cord before I let you drag me down with you."

"Mona, wait. Why can't you leave him alone? Or any of the kids you don't like?" Hanna inquired, obviously fed up. "What have they done to you besides remind you that, two short years ago, we were them?"

"They bug me," the brown-eyed diva answered simply. "And, by the way, you're officially un-invited to my end-of-school party."

Spike enjoyed seeing Drusilla so happy. She always got her best ideas at times like this. Even the thought of Angelus here in Rosewood wasn't enough to dampen her mood now.

Presently, she was dancing by herself to music only she could hear. A peaceful calm seemed to surround her. Spike went over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her to smile dreamily.

"What're you up to, pet?" he whispered in her ear, swaying with her now. She giggled.

"Can you hear the music, Spike?" she responded. "The slayer and Angel have found our present. I can feel it."

"Have they now?" Spike questioned, though he knew what she said was true. "Do they like it?"

"Only time will tell," she said, turning around to face him. Her peaceful smile was gone in an instant, replaced by an unhappy, slightly confused frown.

"Someone's here," she said, perplexed. Spike looked at her in confusion, then turned around just in time to see a small, bald man walk through the door.

"Oh, Marcus," he said, a smug smile on his face. "Glad to see you could make it."

Marcus nodded mechanically.

"Is he going to help us, Spike?" Drusilla asked, excited and happy once again.

"Oh, yes, pet. He's here to help. He's got all the stuff we need. Isn't that right, Marcus?" Spike raised an eyebrow inquisitively at the man across the room.

"That is correct," Marcus said emotionlessly. "Let's get started. Shall we?"


	7. Welcome to the Hellmouth

**A/N: It may be late, but IT IS STILL A WEDNESDAY! School for us starts next Wednesday (and, believe me, I almost shuddered writing that), so the updates will probably be less... weekly. So enjoy! Thanks for your support! (Also, to Whedon Fan, your reviews crack us up. So thank you.) **

**Chapter 7: Welcome To The Hellmouth**

Running wasn't usually the way a slayer reacted to seeing a vampire, but, admittedly, that's exactly what Buffy did. The second she made eye contact with Angel's vamp face (well, the second after she screamed), she'd taken off.

She couldn't say how long she'd run. She'd kept going long after she realized Angel wasn't even chasing after her anymore. She was pretty sure he never even attempt _to _follow her, but she wasn't taking any chances.

All the while, her head was spinning. How hadn't she noticed Angel was a vampire? As a slayer, she thought she was getting pretty good at those things. Apparently not.

She'd ended up in front of her house purely by accident. Well, maybe a little subconscious thinking, too. She tore through the front door and ran up the stairs to her room, ignoring her mother, Joyce, calling for her. She'd talk to her mother later. Right now, there was something more important she had to do.

Throwing herself on her bed, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and composed a message for Spencer.

_We need to tell them._

* * *

"Come in, guys," Spencer said quietly, waving her friends through the door.

"What is this about?" Hanna inquired.

"You'll see," Buffy smiled softly. "Come on, sit down." She instructed, gesturing to the Hastings' variety of furniture.

"You're making me nervous…" Fred trailed off, sitting down in between Willow and Aria.

"Will, why are you so calm?" Emily asked.

"Because she already knows," Buffy answered, her and the red-haired girl sharing a knowing look.

"Well, we'd like to know too," Aria declared.

"Then shush!" Hanna ordered. "Talk," she demanded, looking at her friends.

"So," Spencer trailed off, rocking awkwardly on her heels, "my guess is that you all have noticed Buffy and I leave at night for various reasons… And another guess I have is that you don't always believe us," she finished, her head bowed down. "And we'd like to make it up to you."

"How?" Fred asked.

"We're going to tell you."

"In every generation, two slayers are born." Buffy stated.

"Slayers?" Emily inquired.

"What do you slay?" Hanna asked, obviously not believing any of it.

"Vampires, demons…"

"You name it, we slay it," Spencer chuckled darkly.

"You can't honestly expect us to believe this stuff is real, guys," Aria laughed.

"It is," Willow whispered, speaking up for the first time.

"What? How would you know about this? Why did she get to find out first?" Emily interrogated.

"Because she was attacked," Buffy responded.

"By what, a vampire?" Fred shrieked, wrapping an arm around her friend.

"Yes, a vampire. I got there just in time."

"And that's why we're telling you this now," Spencer added. "There's a new vampire in town, and we're concerned that you guys may become targets."

"Targets?!" Aria whimpered.

"Yes, targets."

"Well what are we supposed to do? Just sit and wait?" Emily asked.

"No. You can go wherever you want, but at your own risk. It'll be safer if Buffy or I are with you. Stay at home at night, too. If you're staying over somewhere, get there while it's light out."

"And don't let anyone in your house. Anyone," Buffy instructed.

"So we're just hiding out until you guys get this guy?" Fred asked incredulously.

"Yes," Spencer responded. "Stay as close to home as possible."

"And what if he just tries to force his way inside?" Hanna asked, her brow furrowing. "I don't think any of us are going to be able to fend off a _vampire._"

"He can't come in unless he's invited," Buffy said quietly, shifting uncomfortably. There was obviously something she wasn't saying, but no one wanted to ask.

"Come again?" Hanna asked, ignoring Buffy's discomfort and sticking to a relatively safe topic.

"He's a vampire; vampires can't come in unless they're invited."

"Just stock up on holy water, crosses, and sharp, pointy sticks and you should be covered," Spencer said dryly.

"Great," Emily said dismally.

"Look, guys, this is just assuming Angel-" Buffy began.

"Whoa, wait, Angel?" Aria interjected. "You know his name?"

"I didn't know he was a vampire at first. He was...good. But anyway, this is just if he even finds out you guys are connected to the two of us. He may not. Before we take him out, that is."

"Well, how're you gonna do that?" Willow asked nervously.

Spencer and Buffy exchanged glances.

"I guess we'll start with Toby and Giles," Buffy said.

"Wait, Toby?" Aria asked incredulously. "Giles as in the librarian? What do they have to do with this?"

Spencer sighed. "Every slayer gets a...a Watcher. Someone who watches over them and guides them with everything they have to do. Toby is mine and Giles is Buffy's."

It was silent for a moment, then Hanna smirked. "Don't they usually frown on workplace romances?"

"Hey, for your information, around thirty percent of couples that meet in the workplace end up married," Spencer retorted, childishly sticking her tongue out at her friend.

"You guys, that's kinda beside the point," Buffy said.

"She's right," Spencer agreed. "You guys need to focus on staying safe." However, safety was the least of the girls' concerns as their phones all began beeping and buzzing.

_Look at you, safe and snug as long as you don't invite Buffy's little friend inside. What's going to keep you safe from me? -A_

* * *

"His name is Angel, you say?"

Spencer, Buffy, Giles, and Toby all stood in the Rosewood High School library, along with Willow, who they figured would be adept at helping find information about their current vampire problem.

"Yes, Angel, and he had me completely fooled until yesterday," Buffy responded.

"Angel…" Giles said absently, turning to one of his many books. "So, you had no idea he was a vampire?"

"None," Buffy replied, frowning. "Isn't it possible that he's a good vampire? He didn't seem so bad…"

"A good vampire?" Giles said, looking back at her. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"He's right," Toby agreed. "Vampires are manipulative, but they're always a demon in the end."

"Vampires are incapable of remorse; you know that better than anyone, Buffy," Spencer said.

"I know, I was just...thinking, I guess," Buffy said.

"Spence, have you talked to this guy?" Toby inquired, turning to his girlfriend.

"Well, I was there when he first showed up, but Buffy was the one who befriended him," Spencer explained. "But I agree with Buffy. I would've done exactly what she did. He seemed perfectly normal."

"It just doesn't make sense," Buffy sighed. "I saw him multiple times and he didn't do anything. He didn't even try to get information or anything. And in the cemetery, I was so shocked, he could've fed off me then and I would've been a goner, but he didn't. I don't think he even tried to follow me."

"That _is _peculiar," Giles said, taking off his glasses and wiping the lenses.

"You think he's got a plan?" Toby asked the older watcher.

"I don't know what to think," Giles admitted. "There must be some, eh, ulterior motive, shall we say, to his actions, but I don't know what."  
"Well, maybe something in these books will tell us," Willow said, speaking for the first time. The others all agreeing, they quickly got to work.

Buffy was the one out of her element with this, she had to admit. Book stuff: not really her thing. She was more of a take action kind of girl. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to find Angel, so she had to put up with the booky things.

It wasn't long until Willow looked up from the book she was reading. "Well, here's something."

"What is it, Willow?" Giles asked, looking up from his own book. "It's just...it's under Angelus...but the picture fits the description you gave, Buffy...or, well, as much as an old sketch can…"

Buffy maneuvered over to Willow's side and inspected the drawing. "That's him, all right. The likeness is phenomenal. He has shorter hair now, though."

"What does it say?" Giles questioned.

Willow turned her attention back to the book, scanning the pages. "He was born in Galway, Ireland and, uh, sired in the 1700s."

"That's a long life span, even for vampire standards," Giles said, sounding intrigued. "Continue."

"Well, um," Willow paused, her eyes widening. "Oh my God…"

"What?" Buffy asked anxiously.

"He was dubbed "The Scourge of Europe" because of all the b-bad things he did."

"Oh my God," Buffy said under her breath. Willow went back to reading.

"But, listen to this," the redhead said after a minute. "Somewhere around 1900, he just disappeared. There's nothing about him."

"Nothing?" Spencer asked.

"Nothing," Willow confirmed.

"What happened to him then?" Buffy wondered aloud, then shook it off. "C'mon, guys. We need more information if we're going to find The Scourge of Europe."

* * *

A knock on Spencer's door woke her up from her less-than-comfortable position on the couch. Quickly sitting up, she noticed a face she had never seen before peering through the window. Cautiously opening the door just enough to poke her head through, Spencer addressed her guest.

"I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong house," she smiled, about to close the door before the girl responded.

"No, I don't," she stated simply.

"Who are you? How are you so sure that you have the right house? Because I remember seeing you once, and that was yesterday."

"My name is Bonnie Bennett," the girl began, "a friend and I came here from Mystic Falls, Virginia, on the S.S. Tipton."

"That doesn't explain how you know you're in the right place."

"I used a locator spell on you," the girl explained. "I'm a witch," she added, noticing Spencer's confusion.

"What?"

"I'm a witch. Mystic Falls is up to it's ears with vampires, witches, werewolves, vampire hunters… So trust me, the last thing I wanted on a vacation was to run into an evil vampire."

"And why was I so important?" Spencer questioned, opening up the door a little more.

"You're a slayer, right?"

"How did you know that?" The mocha-eyed girl hissed.

"Alaric had a feeling when he saw your friend conversing with that… Angel, I think… And your name came up."

"Who the hell is Alaric?"

"Alaric Saltzman, he's a hunter back in Mystic Falls. He was tracking Angel when he saw your friend with him, and realized that Angel might be… Different."

"Different how?" Spencer inquired, walking back from the door and in towards the kitchen.

"Smart," Bonnie commented as she stepped through the entryway.

"What?" Spencer asked, playing dumb.

"You know what. Not inviting me in to see if I'm a vampire."

"Well, now I know. So, tell me, how could Angel be different?"

"Look, I don't know about your guys' situation," Bonnie started, "but, in Mystic Falls, we have some good vampires."

"Good vampires?" Spencer laughed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Trust me. Look, Alaric would've gladly put a stake through anything with the slightest hint of fangs before he started talking to some of the nicer vampires, and I used to give them aneurysms for fun. But he learned."

"Through what, brainwashing?"

"Look, you don't have to believe me about them. But believe me when I say that my friends and I are willing to help with whatever you need," the witch smiled, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. "Here is my number. I'm here with my friend Caroline, who, by they way," she whispered, her eyes twinkling, "is one of those 'nice vampires' I was warning you about. But we can call people and have them here if you need them."

"That girl you were with yesterday? Please. It was one of the sunniest days we've had this week!"

"...You guys don't have daylight rings?" Bonnie asked slowly.

"Daylight what?" Spencer nearly screeched, almost dropping the food she was preparing.

"Daylight rings. Rings crafted by a witch that allow vampires to walk in the sunlight? Oh my God, you have no clue what I'm talking about, do you?"

"How could you craft a daylight ring? You can't be much older than I am!"

"I'm a descendent of Emily Bennett," Bonnie explained.

"_The_ Emily Bennett?" Spencer asked incredulously.

"No, the Emily Bennett from the alley that sells drugs to little kids. Yes, _the _Emily Bennett."

"Oh my God, there's vampires walking around town in plain daylight?" Spencer groaned, her hand cupping her forehead, pacing around the kitchen.

"It is just one. And, trust me, she won't hurt you," Bonne promised, standing up to leave. "Just call me if you need help, okay? Alaric has all sorts of cool homemade vampire-killing weapons," she smiled, out the door before Spencer could ask any more questions.

* * *

"So the girls all know?" The hooded figure asked its superior as they re-watched the girls' conversation for what had to be the hundredth time.

"Yes, for the last time, the girls all know about Spencer and Buffy being slayers. Pay attention!" The other hoodie groaned.

"So…"

"So what?"

"Well, you always have a plan."

"You could say that. What's your point?"

"What's the plan now?"

"You'll know when it's time for you to know," the boss of the situation sighed, the face underneath the hood suddenly laughing maliciously. "But don't you worry. If the girls can breathe after this is all done, I'll be disappointed. But, either way, you won't be. Now, send the text. I'm done with your questions."

"Fine." Pulling out a smartphone, gloved hands began typing.

_Hanna, Buffy, Spencer, Willow- I'll smother you all with your pillow._

_Aria, Emily, and, of course, Fred- How will it be when one more of you's dead? -A_

* * *

"What bothers me is the hypocrisy and sexism of it all. If I were to come out as lesbian, would I all of the sudden be a top candidate for prom queen? I think not," Sophie explained to her new friend. Her best friend, Tanner, had been the first person to ever come out at their high school, and had instantly become popular. The three queen bees of North Gateway High were fighting over his attention, taking him shopping, bringing him to parties of questionable legality, and even getting him the crown at prom.

"I know!" Spencer exclaimed, her hand hitting the table in her excitement. "This girl at our school, Maya, is openly bi, and gets no special attention whatsoever."

"Right? And then my other friend, Brent, came out, and it was like nothing happened."

"It's all about being first," Spencer commented bitterly. Even though the current topic wasn't exactly uplifting, she enjoyed her newfound friendship with Sophie. It was something she had previously taken for granted, the art of having a conversation that didn't involve subtle glances at her neck or off-the-wall questions about vampires. It was nice having a friend who didn't say goodbye after a shopping spree as if it was the last time she would ever be seen alive. Smiling at her new friend, Spencer couldn't help but indulge in a life she knew she could never live.

* * *

Hanna and Willow stood in the hallway of Rosewood High after the day was done. Hanna was apologizing for the nineteenth time for not finding Willow a ride home from Noel's birthday party.

"I'm so sorry, I know I promised, but I forgot," she rambled. Willow smiled kindly.

"It's okay, Hanna," Willow said. "I found my own ride. It's fine. Really."

"Are you sure?" Hanna asked. Willow nodded. Hanna smiled in relief, then took on a more mischievous look.

"Oh, don't look now, but that guy over there is totally checking you out?" Hanna said.

"What?" Willow asked, glancing over to where Hanna was looking. "Oh, that's just Oz; he's who I got a ride from at the party."

"Isn't he in the Dingoes?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, lead guitarist," Willow answered.

"Ooh," Hanna cooed with a smirk. "I'm impressed, Will."

Willow blushed. "We talked and...and he gave me a ride. It was nothing. So no 'oohing'."

"Really? Then why is he coming over here?" With that, Hanna was gone, Oz in her place.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she responded, falling in step with him as he began to walk.

"You ready for exams?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Willow said. "How about you?"

"Well, see, I tend to test well," he explained, "which is pretty cool, except that it tends to lead to jobs and more school."

Willow giggled. "Do you know what you want to do when you graduate?"

Oz shrugged. "Kinda hoping I won't end up in a fast food restaurant."

Willow giggled once again. The two found themselves in front of a vending machine. Oz glanced at it, seemingly weighing his options, before pulling out a few coins from his pocket and buying a box of animal crackers.

"Anyway," he said as he opened the box, "I'll have to see what happens with the band, I suppose."

"But don't you have any other, y'know, ambitions?" Willow inquired.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, E-flat diminished ninth."

"Huh?"

"Well, the E-flat, it's doable. But it's that diminished ninth, y'know, it's a man's chord. You could lose a finger."

Willow nodded as Oz turned to his animal crackers, pulling one out.

"Oh, look, monkey," he said, holding it up. "And he has a little hat and little pants."

"Yeah, I-I see," Willow said.

Oz looked thoughtful then. "The monkey's the only cookie animal that's allowed to wear clothes, you know that?"

Willow smiled, realizing he was right.

"You have the sweetest smile I've ever seen," Oz said, taking Willow by surprise. She was about to respond when Oz continued. "So I'm wonderin', do the other cookie animals feel sorta ripped? Like is the hippo goin', 'Hey man, where are my pants? I have my hippo dignity.' And, you know, the monkey's just, 'I mock you with my monkey pants!' And then there's a big coup in the zoo."

"The monkey is French?" Willow asked in response to the accent Oz adopted when he spoke as the monkey.

"All monkeys are French. You didn't know that?"

"No."

The two walked out of the school then, still talking, Willow not even noticing that in following after him, she was going the complete opposite of where she needed to to get home.

* * *

"Welcome to this new LGBT support group," the blonde woman smiled. "My name is Stef, and this is my partner of ten years, Lena."

"This group isn't to pull you out of the closet or make you uncomfortable," Lena chuckled. "Stef knows all about that, though, if you have questions."

"But, please, don't ask and make me squirm unless it is for your own personal benefit," Stef laughed. "Let's just start by making you all squirm while you tell us your stories. How about you?" She asked, pointing to a girl towards the back.

"Well…" the girl started, taking a huge breath, "my name is Emily Fields, and I'm a junior at Rosewood High. I'm still… Closeted, technically, but my best friends know."

"Are you scared to come out?" Lena inquired gently.

"Kind of. My parents would be angry, maybe even more than angry."

"What makes you say that?"

"My dad is Mr. Military, and my mom has never been… Great to the LGBT community," Emily explained.

"Well, thank you for starting us off, Emily," Stef smiled. "Who's next? How about you?" She pointed to a blonde girl with a barely visible face. The girl looked up, eyes wide.

"Oh, o-okay," she stuttered out, sounding highly uncertain of herself. "I'm T-Tara Maclay, and I-I attend R-Rosewood High S-School as w-well."

With every word Tara spoke, her face seemed to get more and more red, as if she was just praying for everybody to stop paying attention to her.

"And are you out?" Lena asked.

"N-No…" she trailed off, seemingly looking for words to say. "I-I...well...my m-mother p-passed away a w-while ago, and I-I'm not sure h-how my dad and m-my b-brother would t-take it."

"What about your friends?" Lena prompted with a kind smile.

"O-Oh, I...I d-don't really h-have that m-many f-friends," Tara answered, attempting to hide behind her hair once again. But, noticing the way that the Emily girl was smiling at her, she wondered if her minimal friend count would be bumped up by one.

* * *

"Who's idea was this, again?" Hanna questioned as the girls walked through the woods.

"Emily's mom," Willow answered.

"Actually, it was me. My mom just said we should do something for Alison," Emily explained.

"Well, couldn't do something without mosquitoes?" Hanna whined.

"They're not mosquitoes, they're gnats," Aria corrected.

"Whatever! They're small and annoying, and they're flying up my nose!"

"Well, they're attracted to your perfume," Buffy teased.

"And your hair product," Spencer joined in.

"And your lip gloss," Fred giggled.

"So what are you saying?" Hanna inquired. "I attract flies?"

"Gnats," Aria laughed.

"Why do I feel like this is the wrong way?" Willow asked, looking around. The girls were looking for the old shed they used to hang out in before Alison had disappeared to put up a shrine to their late friend.

"No, this is it," Spencer stated. "I remember that tree," she explained, pointing to it. "The halfway point. There's 136 steps left to the shed."

"Have you been out here since Alison?" Fred questioned.

"Me? No!" Spencer exclaimed. "No way!"

"But you remember that tree?" Aria asked.

"You guys, it's not that weird," Hanna said, defending her friend.

"Yeah, we came out here in eighth grade like every day," Buffy added. "Even after."

"I still think this is the wrong place to do this… Whatever you call it. Shrine." Spencer shrugged.

"It's not a shrine, it's just a place to remember Alison. What's wrong with that?" Emily asked.

"Doing it way out here makes it look like we have something to hide," Fred chimed in.

"You're worried what other people think?" Buffy questioned.

"Aren't you?" Spencer retorted. "Do you really want to give that creepy detective more reasons to question us?"

Before anyone could answer, Hanna walked away, not saying anything.

"Hanna, why are you so quiet?" Willow inquired.

"I'm trying to keep the bugs in my nose and out of my mouth."

"You're allowed to have an opinion on this," Emily sighed.

"You want my opinion?" The blonde asked. "I say we hold off and not remember her until we know for sure that she's not still here."

"What?" The girls questioned simultaneously.

"What are you talking about?" Willow asked.

"You think she's still alive?" Buffy added.

"Hanna, they found her body," Spencer groaned.

"Stop," Aria interjected. "I'm officially scared. Can we just not-"

"You know what?" Hanna interrupted. "You asked for my opinion. I don't believe she's really gone."

"We went to her funeral!" Spencer argued as they continued walking.

"Yeah, and when we left, we all got a text from her!"

"It wasn't her," Emily responded. "It was someone messing with us!"

"How do you know? And what about those nasty messages? How does this -A person know stuff only Ali knew?"

"Okay, this conversation is giving me a hive," Aria sighed.

"No, it's a bite from a mosquito," Hanna replied snarkily. Suddenly, a twig snapped not too far from them, averting the girls' attention.

"What was that?" Fred asked, whimpering. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes, I heard that, I'm standing right next to you," Aria whispered.

"Hello?" Buffy called out.

"Is anybody out there?" Hanna joined in.

"It was probably a rabbit," Spencer commented.

"Hello?" Hanna tried again.

"It's a rabbit, Hanna. It's not going to answer."

"Can we just get to the shed?" Willow pleaded, another snap, much louder snap, sounding.

"Okay, that is definitely not a rabbit! Someone's out there," Hanna panicked.

"Let's just turn around," Fred suggested, the girls gladly taking her advice and walking the other way, only to stop when a chorus of ringtones sang to the forest.

_Heads up, BFFs. It's open season on liars and I'm hunting… -A_

"Let's get out of here," Fred said, shaking, leading her friends back the way they came from.

"I wish this would all go away," Aria groaned.

"Well, it's not going away. Not unless we toss our phones and join the Navy," Hanna replied.

"Look, there's seven of us and one freak sending messages," Emily sighed. "When we just talk to each other like this, I feel like it's easier to deal with everything."

"I think Emily's right," Willow chimed in. "I mean, there's way too many secrets. We shouldn't do this shrine in the middle of nowhere, we should do this where we can see it every day."

"You mean like somewhere in school?" Buffy asked.

"No, in town," Aria responded. "We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere. And you know what? Whoever did this to her- if they're still in Rosewood- we should make them look at it every day, too." Noticing Hanna's sigh and disapproving look, the group was curious.

"What, you hate the idea?" Spencer questioned.

"No," Hanna shook her head. "No, I just-" She was cut off by the sound of branches snapping near them. The girls shared a knowing look, dropping their things and ran towards the sound. Looking around to what they presumed to be the source of it, they saw no one.

"Look!" Hanna gasped, directing the girls' attention to the ground. It was a friendship bracelet- Alison's friendship bracelet. She had given each of the girls one so they would be "friends forever".

_The girls were sitting in the Applerose Grille, giggling about whatever gossip they were sharing, when Alison suddenly cut the joke short._

"_I got you guys something," she announced, pulling out multicolored pouches and handing one to each of her friends._

"_What's the occasion?" Fred asked._

"_You'll see," Alison smiled. "Open them!" They all did, finding matching purple bracelets, only differing by the name of each girl being embroidered in white on her bracelet. "We'll be friends forever," the blonde girl sighed happily. "Can you put mine on for me, Em?" _

* * *

"Hey, Bay!" Aria smiled, hugging her friend. "Ready to paint?"

"Actually, no. I wanted to talk to you first."

"About Emmett?"

"Yeah. He told me you cheated on him," Bay whispered, as if saying it any louder would make it too official.

"Bay, please don't judge me. It was a moment of mistake," Aria pleaded, her eyes becoming larger-than-life.

"How can I not?" Her friend inquired, preparing for their project, not making eye contact. "I mean, really? You guys fought and you got drunk, that I understand. But hooking up with some random guy? Pardon me for not empathizing."

"It wasn't some random dude, Bay."

"Then who was it?" Feeling pressured, the hazel-eyed girl quickly changed the subject.

"Is this because of what happened with Simone?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bay questioned harshly, whipping around to face her friend.

"It means that you were me once, and I was Emmett… If that makes sense. I can't help but assume that you're a little more angry about this than you would be about other things." Before Bay could reply, her brother walked in.

"Hey, Toby, what do you need?" She asked, trying to convey with her eyes that he couldn't have walked in at a worse moment.

"I was wondering if you could drive Daphne to basketball. I have a Dingoes thing all afternoon, and she needs a ride."

"Can't mom do it?" The brunette groaned.

"Yeah, if anyone possessed the power to pull her away from her laptop," he snorted.

"Does she ever stop writing?" Aria questioned. Kathryn had been writing a book about finding out that her daughter had been switched at birth, and everything with Alison just made it that much juicier.

"No," Bay and Toby answered simultaneously.

"Are you sure you can't? The brown-eyed girl asked her brother.

"Yes, Bay. I'm sure. I have to leave five minutes ago and Daphne has to leave in like ten minutes. Look, this wasn't supposed to be this hard."

"I can't take her," Aria offered.

"Oh, really?" Toby inquired, looking surprised.

"What, you didn't know I could drive?" Aria laughed.

"No… I didn't know Daphne was speaking to you. Or looking at you."

"Or thinking about you. Or breathing within a five-mile radius," Bay added.

"Is she mad about Emmett?"

"No, no, she's cool that you cheated on her best friend, she's just mad that you wore green pants," Toby retorted sarcastically.

"Thanks."

"Well," Bay sighed. "I'll go and take her. I think I might stop at Emmett's afterwards. Can we reschedule?" She asked, turning to Aria.

"Yeah, sure," she replied with a tight smile. "It was nice to see you, Toby."

* * *

The past couple days had been exceptionally awkward for Norman. The reappearance of his half-brother Dylan had done nothing for his mother's frayed nerves and had left Norman constantly on edge.

He couldn't have picked a worse time. Norma was already wary about just about everything ever since Alison had been found, and it was no secret that she and Dylan did _not _get along. The past few days had been occupied completely by Norma and Dylan seeing who could rip off the other's head first.

More often than not, Norman was dragged into it.

He'd have to defend his mother, though. Dylan would say all kinds of awful things about her; he would defend her. He had to.

That was the way it had to be.

* * *

The girls walked into Camp Mona, shocked by the size of the party.

"Welcome to Camp Mona!" the perky girl greeted, practically skipping over to them.

"Happy birthday," Aria smiled as they all handed over their presents.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it!" Mona exclaimed. "And, if not, I'll return it!" Turning around, she picked up the oversized party favor bags, handing them to the girls. "Swag!"

"Uh… Thanks," Willow said uncertainly, pulling out the large black hoodie with "Camp Mona" printed in bright pink on the back.

"It's so… Subtle," Spencer added.

"Okay, tour time! So, over here, we have the massage tent," Mona explained, gesturing to a spa-like area. "The mani-pedi area, the blow-me bar, and the mini bar," she finished, pointing to each place in turn. "Excuse me," she sighed as she went to go yell at a staff member. "Umm… Did I just see you eat a cookie?!"

Soon enough, the girls had settled down in an unoccupied tent when Aria's phone went off. "It's Hanna," she explained, picking up the call. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," Hanna responded as she packed a bag full of gear. "How's my friend Mona?" she asked sarcastically.

Looking around, Aria finally spotted Mona counting her presents. Even though it wasn't a birthday or Christmas party, it was a Mona party. "She's… Mona."

"Well, I'm leaving in ten. And if -A is watching you, I'll be watching her," Hanna smirked, placing her binoculars in her bag.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Aria, I went to fat camp for five summers. I can handle some woods," the blonde sighed, adding a flask to her already-full bag.

"Okay, be safe." But all Hanna heard were strange noises.

"Hello?" she asked, the call dropping before she could get an answer.

"God, service out here sucks," Aria groaned, her eyes glued to her phone as it once again went off. "It's from -A."

_You found my bracelet, now come find me. Good luck, bitches. -A_

"I think we're supposed to go to where we found Ali's bracelet," Willow said.

"That was in the middle of nowhere!" Emily groaned.

"No, actually, it was 15 steps east of the half point tree, which is 136 steps from the main road," Spencer rattled off robotically.

"You're a freak, and I love you," Aria declared, the girls all getting up to find their tormentor, when a wrench was thrown into their plan.

"Emily, Aria, Fred!" Mona called, smiling when she found the girls. "Your turn to get blown!" She smiled, turning to lead them towards the desired tent.

"Well, it has to look like we're here for the party, so go glamp," Spencer sighed.

"We'll be back before it gets dark," Buffy stated definitively, taking Willow by the hand as the girls parted ways, Aria's phone going off when half of the group was out of earshot.

_I need to see you. -Jason_

"Is it -A?" Fred asked nervously.

"No, just my mom."

* * *

Hanna was lurking outside the edge of Camp Mona, surprised at the lack of security. Though she wouldn't be able to get in, she wasn't thrown out for being within one hundred feet without an invitation, which was pretty good for Mona. Walking back into the woods, she barely caught a glimpse of her friends before she found a hiding spot and began to watch.

"Wow…" Buffy grinned mischieviously at her freshly-blown friends.

"What happens if you touch it?" Spencer laughed, reaching out to poke the girls' larger-than-life hair.

"Stop," Aria glared at them.

"Did you find anything?" Emily asked, half curious and half averting the attention from her hair.

Spencer cleared her throat, looking around to see if anyone was watching. "Come here," she whispered.

"Guys, check it out," Buffy said, pulling out a pouch just like the ones Alison had given them, with a bracelet inside it as well. The bracelet had Jenna's name on it.

"Is Jenna telling us that she's -A?" Emily inquired.

"I don't think so," Spencer answered. "There's something else," she notified them, handing over a piece of paper. "You're as in the dark as Jenna. Looking for me in all the wrong places," she read.

"If this is the wrong place, then what's the right place?" Fred asked.

Not too long after, Spencer, Fred, Willow, and a few random other partygoers were seated around a dying campfire, roasting marshmallows. Spencer was sitting, head in hand, having been mentally torturing herself since they had found the clue. "Looking for me in all the wrong places…" she repeated over and over again. Suddenly, it hit her. Standing up, she shone her flashlight around to look for her other friends, but all she could see was an endless sea of Camp Mona hoodies. Turning around, she saw Emily walking in her direction.

"Where's Aria and Buffy?" Spencer whispered, ignoring the questions coming from Fred and Willow behind her.

"I don't know."

"We have to go to the right place," Spencer announced triumphantly, feeling even better after seeing Emily's confused look. "W-R-I-G-H-T," she explained.

"Wright's Playground!" Emily exclaimed.

The girls walked to Wright's Playground with little trouble, Spencer carrying her flashlight and leading the way.

"I think you're actually enjoying this," the tan girl commented as her friend shone her flashlight on a sign to lead them where they needed to go, Spencer not responding.

Once they had arrived, they immediately began searching for clues, or, better yet, -A. The girls were doing a thorough scan of the ground when, suddenly, they heard a noise come from behind them. Whipping around, they didn't see a person- they saw the swing, swinging, though it appeared that nobody was there to push it.

"Emily," Spencer whispered, changing direction and marching towards a tree, shining her flashlight on it intently. There, carved plain as day in the bark, was a little heart with two names inside it.

"Alison loves Ian?" Emily asked, not sure if she was hallucinating, and not having time to check when both her and Spencer's phones went off.

* * *

Finding the house was just too easy for Spike's liking. She was a slayer, for God's sake, and yet she may as well have had neon signs broadcasting, "Buffy Summers' House-Vampires Welcome". To be fair, she probably wasn't the genius behind putting "Summers" on just about every little thing that was outside in plain sight, but hey, _somebody _was throwing Spike a bone.

He supposed he had Angel to thank for this. One look at his little gift had Angel just about ready to denounce his own mother for just a taste. Well, maybe not quite that far, but it had done the trick all the same. The slayer had run off. Spike just followed her home. And considering all the "Summers" paraphernalia, it wouldn't have taken him that long to find it just by roaming the town.

Spike went up to one of the front windows, having a look in through the curtains. He smiled to himself.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Mama Summers, home all alone."

* * *

It hit Buffy like a ton of bricks.

There she was, trying to have as good a time as possible at Mona's camp from feminine hell, and it all came flying back at her.

Angel. She'd let him in the house.

She didn't know how she could've possibly forgotten. That should've been the first thing she'd taken into account when she learned he was a vampire, but she'd been so concerned for her friends' safety, not her own. And not…

Oh, God. Her mom. Home alone. Perfect time for Angel to strike.

Buffy needed to get home, _now._

Urgently, Buffy began searching through the partygoers for any of her friends, but she didn't see any of them. Hastily, Buffy tapped out a message to Willow.

_Needed home NOW._

Buffy could only hope she'd be in time.

* * *

And Darla said Spike wasn't creative. Yeah, well, let's see her get away with a plan like this. Even she would've seen the beauty of it.

It wasn't hard getting in the front door. Good thing too, because he'd spent too much bloody time on making himself not look like something that would make any mother pass out immediately to be sent away. It wasn't his fault he was so good-looking. But even so, it all had to go. The black nail polish, gone, the duster traded for a simple button down shirt and jeans, even the harsh Cockney was replaced by a gentler, more Victorian accent. The only thing he couldn't help was the bleached hair, but what can you do?

All in all, it would've much simpler if Dru had done this, but Spike highly doubted that Mrs. Summers would have appreciated if Dru happened to have one of her fits, which were becoming more and more common every day. No, simpler if Drusilla did this, but safer if Spike did.

It had worked out in the end. Now, Spike was just a simple college student who had promised to drop off some stuff to help Buffy with her schoolwork. Joyce had barely even questioned it; Buffy was always needing help with her schoolwork.

"Why don't you come in?"

A backwards invitation, but an invitation nonetheless.

She never saw it coming. She led him into the kitchen, her back to him. Spike struck in a second, before his opportunity was gone. She didn't even put up a fight.

"Mom?"

Oh, bugger. The girl's home. Ah, well, can't be seen with the body. Spike dropped Joyce to ground, well aware she was still alive. But he couldn't be seen with her if he ever wanted to pin this on Angel. Hopefully mommy dearest wouldn't say anything until the other vampire was dust.

* * *

"Mom?" Buffy called, suddenly feeling very paranoid. How would she explain this if it turned out Joyce was just fine? "Mom?"

Buffy rounded the corner into the kitchen and gasped. Her mother lay in a heap on the floor, two round marks on her neck. Vampire bite.

Buffy rushed over to her and checked for a pulse. Joyce was still alive. Buffy flew to the phone on the counter and dialed 911 hurriedly, staring at her mother in fear.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"It's-its my mom," Buffy said hastily. "She-uh...something's happened. She's unconscious. The address is 1630 Revello Drive. Just-please hurry."

* * *

Hanna was getting bored being the official lookout. Her arms were cramping from holding the binoculars and she was pretty sure that bugs had taken most of her skin. Just as she was about to give up, a car drove down the path that she had followed, stopping just close enough for her to watch without being seen. Quickly enough, a hooded figure got into the car.

"Thanks for meeting me here," Jason murmured, clearing his throat awkwardly while his companion pulled down their hood.

"What do you want?"

"A second chance," the blond man responded. "I care about you," he confessed, receiving a sigh in response. "Please, just go on a few dates with me. You'll see."

"You can't just go around deciding how things are going to work out," Aria huffed. "You don't get to choose how I feel!"

"I was wrong," he breathed, leaning closer to the hazel-eyed girl. "Forgive me," he whispered.

"No."

"Forgive me," he tried again, leaning even closer.

And, suddenly, they were kissing.

"Jason and Aria? Oh my god!" Hanna whispered to herself, having little time to process when another hooded figure showed up. Quickly whipping out her binoculars, she could just barely make out the fact of the person writing on the back of Jason's car. She tried to call her friend, but Aria was apparently too engrossed in her makeout session to notice her phone vibrating.

Hanna watched the hood run away before sending out a text.

_S.O.S. I know who A is. Heading to the parking lot_

And, with that, she ran to the parking lot as fast as she could, hoping that her friends would do the same. Walking out in between the rows of cars, she began to get nervous. Whipping around, she tried to take in all her surroundings and watch for potential danger. Ducking down behind the hood of a car she recognized from the school parking lot, she once again saw a hoodie running at top speed through the trees.

"Hanna?" Emily called, her and the rest of the girls running as fast as they could. However, Hanna was frozen, paralyzed by the hoodie she kept seeing.

"Hanna?" Fred tried. "Hanna, we're over here!" Finally snapping out of it, Hanna started jogging towards her friends, ready to tell them who their tormentor was and take them down. However, someone else had different plans.

"Hanna! Watch out!" Willow screamed, her blonde friend not seeing the headlights rushing straight at her.

The next thing the girls new, Hanna was on top of the car, falling back down over the other side as the car drove away. They were all screaming and crying, but it did no good. It was too late.

"Call 911!" Spencer yelled as they raced towards their unconscious friend.

"There's been an accident," Fred reported to the person on the other end, her voice shaky. "We're at the Camp Rosewood parking lot, please hurry!"

"She's not breathing," Spencer grunted.

"Hanna," Aria breathed, ready to give up when she heard the all-too-familiar sound of multiple phones ringing.

_She knew too much. -A_

* * *

The first thing Buffy noticed as she rushed into the hospital was Willow, Spencer, Fred, Aria, and Emily sitting in the waiting room, looking just as worried as she was. She rushed over to them in confusion.

"What're you guys doing here?" she asked, then proceeded hesitantly, "Where's Hanna?"

"She got...hit b-by a car," Emily said quietly, wiping away a few stray tears.

"Oh my God," Buffy gasped, wondering how this night could get any worse. "She's gonna be okay, though, right?"

"They...they don't know," Spencer said shakily. Buffy brought her hands up to cover her mouth.

"Why are you here?" Willow asked then.

"My mom...she was attacked."

"Oh my God!" Aria said. "Is she okay?"

"She was still breathing when I got to her," Buffy said, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "They said she should pull through."

"Oh, thank God," Fred said, going over to hug her friend. Everyone else looked visibly relieved, except for Spencer, who frowned.

"What happened to her?" the brunette asked.

Moving away from Fred, Buffy sighed. "It was Angel."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked.

"It had to be," Buffy said.

"But he's a vampire," Fred said. "I thought they couldn't get in unless they're invited."

"I did invite him in though," Buffy said after a moments hesitation.

"Oh," Fred said, eyes wide.

"Back when I didn't know what he was," Buffy added hastily. "These three vampires attacked us one time and he was injured and we only managed to kill one of them. They were incredibly strong; unlike anything I'd ever faced. So we ran to my house and I let him in."

Everyone was silent, not knowing how to respond. Finally, Buffy spoke once again.

"I, uh...I have to call my dad." She walked off without waiting for an answer, pulled out her cell phone, and dialed her father's home phone.

"Dawn? Hey, is dad there?"

* * *

"Hanna's mom is with the doctor," Emily notified her worried mother over the phone. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"They don't know who was driving the car," Willow said, talking to her own mother.

"We were at Mona's party, and Hanna got a text… We were going to the parking lot to

meet her, and that's when she got hit," Aria sighed, her parents just as concerned.

"She was unconscious, so we couldn't talk to her," Fred sniffled, looking at Spencer, who was crying quietly into Toby's shoulder. "That's why we want to wait, maybe we can try and see her…" she trailed off, noticing Lucas Gottesman talking to Mrs. Marin. "I'll call you guys back when we know something. Goodbye, love you too."

"Is she okay, Mrs. Marin?" Fred asked anxiously as the red-headed woman walked towards them, still appearing to be in a state of shock.

"She is going to be alright," she announced, her voice shaking. "She, um, she has a broken leg, and a… broken ankle, bruised ribs, and, uh… they maybe have to remove her spleen," she choked, the girls no more comforted than they had been before the report. "What happened?"

"Hanna was coming across the parking lot, and this car just came out of nowhere," Aria explained.

"When the police found the car, they said it was stolen from the campground lot," Ashley informed them.

"Did they catch the driver?" Emily inquired.

"No," Hanna's mother responded somewhat angrily. "Not yet."

"The cops should be looking harder," Spencer huffed.

"You girls should go home," Ashley sighed. "I will call you when Hanna can have visitors."

"Just let Hanna know that we were here," Willow requested, wiping her eyes.

"I will… When she wakes up," she promised, walking back towards Hanna's room.

"We need to figure out who this person is," Emily demanded.

"Well, Hanna knows who is. That's why -A tried to kill her," Spencer pointed out.

"You think they're just trying to scare us?" Willow asked.

"It worked," Aria sighed.

"This was never about scaring us," Spencer whispered. "That was just an added

bonus."

"I mean, this started with murder," Fred added. "We were crazy to think it wouldn't end

up like this!"

"Should we tell the cops?" Emily asked.

"Tell them what?" Aria groaned.

"Everything!"

"We don't know everything!" Spencer interjected.

"So what do we do?" Willow inquired.

"Well… We talk to Hanna before we do anything," Spencer decided.

"Is Hanna safe here?" Fred asked, tears spilling through again, feeling much worse when her friends were hesitant to speak up.

"Yeah," Spencer finally answered, not looking too confident in her answer. "I mean, nothing will happen to her when her mom is with her."

"What does Toby think?" Emily looked at Spencer.

"The same as everyone else. That we were going to meet Hanna and a car came out of nowhere. It's not a lie, it's just not the whole truth," turning back to her boyfriend, who had been dutifully waiting for the girls to finish their conversation.

"Let's go home," Fred suggested. "And use the buddy system."

* * *

Spencer and Willow walked home in silence. They'd opted to walk together since they didn't live too far from each other, but they might as well have been walking alone. Spencer was wishing she had taken up Toby's offer of a ride home. Neither girl knew what to say in light of the events that had just occurred. They didn't really want to talk about it, and yet still felt something needed to be said.

"C-Crazy night, huh?" Willow settled on.

Spencer chuckled humorlessly. "You can say that again."

The two settled into silence once again, wracking their brains for something, anything, to say. Anything to relieve the tension in the air.

They came upon the Bates Motel without even realizing it. From inside, they could hear the characteristic yelling of the owner, Norma Bates. It wasn't unusual to walk past and hear that.

"Always screaming," Spencer said under her breath. Willow muttered her agreement, then frowned, remembering a snippet of...something. The first time she'd heard Norma yell like this…

_Willow walked home after school. The end of the year was fast approaching, and she had too much studying to do to go hang out with her friends._

_She walked past the Bates Motel and the house that went with it, surveying it. The owners had just moved in a couple weeks ago and had been having some trouble getting business. That would change once summer hit. The tourists would come flocking in, all needing a place to stay. They'd all stayed at the Seafarer Motel, they wouldn't care if they were now staying at the Bates Motel. It was all the same to them._

_A crash from inside the house made Willow jump._

"_Norman, I said 'no'!" a female voice shouted._

"_You don't get to just decide, Mother!" another voice, this one male, yelled back._

"_I don't want you seeing that girl, Norman, she's a bad influence!"_

"_You don't know her!"_

"_I know enough!"_

_It was then that Willow had hurried on, not wanting to hear anymore._

_And it wasn't until the next day that she thought about it._

"_Do you guys know Norman Bates?" Alison asked. "He's so cool. They just don't make boys like _him _anymore."_

"Norman," Willow gasped.

"What?" Spencer asked in confusion at the outburst.

"Do you guys know Norman Bates? He's so cool. They just don't make boys like him anymore."

"Willow, what're you talking about?"

"That's what Alison said not long before she disappeared. She and Norman were friends. Don't you remember?"

"You're right," Spencer said in realization. "But that doesn't mean anything."

"But when I saw him recently, he neglected saying that he knew Alison at all," Willow said hastily.

Spencer frowned, her brow furrowing. "Sounds like he has something to hide."


End file.
